Saturday, March 16, 2013

Callano v. Oakwood Park Homes Corp. case brief

Callano v. Oakwood Park Homes Corp. case brief summary
91 N.J. Super. 105

SYNOPSIS: Defendant appealed from a judgment entered in favor of plaintiffs in the Monmouth County District Court (New Jersey) for unjust enrichment.

OVERVIEW: Defendant sold a home to decedent who ordered shrubbery from the plaintiffs to be placed on the property. The shrubbery was placed on the property but the decedent died before payment was made to the plaintiffs. Defendant sold the home with the shrubbery on the property. Plaintiffs then sued the defendant for unjust enrichment received from the increase in the value to the property because of the shrubbery. The court stated that plaintiffs had no cause of action against defendant for unjust enrichment. To receive value for the shrubbery, plaintiffs had to sue decedent's estate.

RULES:
-To recover on the theory of quasi-contract the Plaintiffs must prove that the defendant was enriched, that is, received a benefit, and that retention of the benefit without payment therefore would be unjust.

ANALYSIS:
-Quasi-contract cases involve either some direct relationship between the parties or a mistake on the part of the person conferring the benefit.
-The Plaintiff had no dealings with the Defendant, and did not expect remuneration from it when they provided the shrubbery.
-A Plaintiff is not entitled to employ the legal fiction of quasi-contract to “substitute one promisor or debtor for another.”

OUTCOME: The court reversed the lower court stating that defendant was not unjustly enriched and was not liable for the value of the shrubbery.

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