Don v. Trojan Construction Co.

Trojan Construction (defendant) sold a commercial lot that was quickly transferred to the Dons (plaintiffs), but Trojan, unaware of that transfer, obtained permission from the intermediate owner to store dirt on the lot for a nearby subdivision project and used the Dons' vacant lot for roughly ten months. The Dons, who had postponed their own supermarket construction plans and testified they would not have voluntarily rented out the lot but also had no immediate use for it, sued for the unauthorized occupation; the trial court found the property's rental value was $550 per month but awarded only nominal damages.