QUESTION
Can someone sue me for selling them a phone that later turns out to be reported stolen but I did not steal or report stolen?
Asked on Sep 30th, 2014 on Breach of Contract - Minnesota
More details to this question:
So I bought a Galaxy S5 off Craigslist from someone and I decided I wanted an iphone, I found someone who would trade and I made the deal, we met at a tmobile store even and they checked out both phones and neither were reported stolen at the time, and we made the trade. A week later the guy who I gave the Galaxy to emails me, threatening me and my family, calling me names and generally being an asshole. He has now filed a police report and is saying he's going to sue me. How can he sue me for a phone report stolen that I didn't own for more then a week and bought from someone off Craigslist? Also a bit more of info; the guy who sold me the Galaxy to begin with bought it from Craigslist as well! That's 3 Craigslist sales and 4 owners in its lifetime.
1 ANSWER
By selling him the galaxy in exchange for the iphone, you impliedly represented that you had good tiltle to the galaxy, which you did not. You breached the contract of sale by giving him a phone which you didn't own. Another way to look at it is that there was a failure of consideration - the other guy didn't receive the consideration he bargained for in the transaction - a phone - and is therefore entitled to rescind the contract and get his phone back (and you would have to pay whatever charges you had put on the phone and any damages the phone had suffered while in your possession.)
Answered on Sep 30th, 2014 at 9:30 AM