Equine Law Blog

Sales Disputes Involving a Horse’s Age

Disputes occasionally occur when a buyer purchases a horse that is represented as being one age when, it later turns out, the horse is many years older.  Does the buyer have a case against the seller?

Lawyers will ask their clients, the buyers, whether the fact they thought was misrepresented (here, the horses’ ages) was material to them in making the purchase.  The word “material,” in the legal sense, means very important.  In essence, the question comes down to how important the horse's age was to the buyer when he or she decided to buy the horse at the specified price.  If the seller wrongly represented the horse’s age in a material way, and if the horse’s age was material to the buyer, the buyer might have grounds for legal recourse under a theory of “material misrepresentation” or fraud.

To some people, four years is a major age difference in a horse, but to others a 4 years difference might be nothing; a veterinarian might even affirm that the horse is in excellent condition for the use the buyer has in mind.

Sales disputes can involve many other legal theories, such as:

• breach of contract,
• fraud,
• breach of implied or express warranties,
• violation of an applicable uniform commercial code, or
• violation of a state consumer protection or deceptive trade practice law.

Options

Buyers who believe they bought a misrepresented horse have a few options:

• Call off the sale, and ask to return the horse for a refund.  Lawyers call this “rescission.”  Pursuing it is not as easy as hauling the horse back to the seller.  If the seller refuses to comply, the buyer might need permission from a proper court. 
• Keep the horse, but seek reimbursement for what was paid over the horse’s fair market value.  Where allowed by law, the buyer might be able to seek reimbursement of additional losses or expenses.
• In some states, consumer protection laws or deceptive trade practice laws might give buyers more rights.  For example, many of these laws allow buyers to win back their legal fees and sometimes even win back double or triple the amount of their losses.  These laws vary greatly across the country.

Categories: Sales/Disputes