Legal Question in Business Law in West Virginia

Does Product Misrepresentation Nullify a Contract?

Does the misrepresentation of an adopted horse nullify the adoption contract?

I adopted a horse, ''Roulette,� from a horse adoption agency. She was advertised as �� did have an eye removed Sep of '98 but it does not affect her way of going.'' I was apprehensive but was told it was not a problem.

I got her home and she was very spooky on her blind side despite their assurances.

After 2 years of work she still spooks. The agency says I did something to cause the problem but the previous adopter says ''I know even on the ground she could be spooky, you can't blame her when she can't see on the one side!'' Every knowledgeable horse enthusiast I have asked agrees with that statement.

The agency has her listed on their web site for adoption but refuses to take Rou back because it is ''not taking any horses at the farm right now,'' but just this week a new horse listed as ''coming soon.''

The same description that convinced me to adopt Rou is listed with a ''note from the current adopter'' but it is not a note from me, it is the same note that convinced me to adopt Roulette.

They blocked my email address and do not respond to correspondence.

I say the contract is null due to misrepresentation. Do I need an attorney?


Asked on 9/24/04, 12:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathon Moseley Jonathon A. Moseley

Re: Does Product Misrepresentation Nullify a Contract?

If you purchase something, and the seller misrepresents what you are buying, then this is fraudulent. Actually, you also have to REASONABLY rely on the statements made (they can't say that Elvis once drove this 2003 Toyota, for example, and have you reasonably rely on that). And the false statement has to be relevant to the value of what you are buying. In other words, the value has to be different if the statement is true versus if it is untrue.

One of the remedies for such misrepresentation would be "rescission" -- cancellation of the contract, in which everything goes back to the way it was before the contract was signed.

Whether the example you give qualifies for this, I don't know. It depends on whether the difference is significant. Ordinarily, I would say that would be an easy question. However, you knew that you were getting a horse with an eye problem. I would imagine you were not planning to use the horse for a variety of uses that would normally be valuable, such as racing. So it would be a matter of opinion, to be proven, whether a horse with a bad eye that is NOT jumpy is significantly different from a horse with a bad eye that IS jumpy. That is a subjective question based on the value of different types of horses, and is not purely a legal question. A judge might be persuaded either way.

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Answered on 9/24/04, 9:11 pm


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