More details to this question:
I sold 2 horses to a friend and we had the following verbal agreement: Price-$600 would be paid once the person got their VA back pay. If they ever decided to get rid of the 2 horses, they were to be given back to us. Come to find out this person sold both horses before they paid me for them. Now one of the horses has been sold two more times. I have repeated ask the person for the horses back and he stated that he would get them back. This was stated to me before I found out that he sold them. He stated to me that he loaned them to someone. Do I have a claim to have my horses returned to me even though they have been some to someone else?
1 ANSWER
The first problem is that your contract may have been required to be in writing to be enforceable, as the Uniform Commercial Code, which Alabama has adapted, requires that all contracts for the sale of goods valued at over $500 must be in writing. There are exceptions to this rule which are too numerous and complex to go into here, but it could be a problem.
Second, assuming that you can prove that you had an agreement that your friend was not allowed to sell the horses but rather was required to return them to you if he/she ever decided to get rid of them (you weren't going to pay anything for them?), you still can't enforce that contract against the buyer unless the buyer knew or had reason to know of your rights. Absent such knowledge, the buyer is what is known as a bona fide purchaser for value, and he/she now holds superior title to the horses. You may be able to sue your friend for any damages you sustained from your friend's breach of contract, but you can't recover the horses from an innocent third party who paid for them in good faith.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2014 at 9:09 AM