An insurance company was allowed to unilaterally modify and terminate the deferred monetary benefits received by an agency and its owner under their agency contract, but the contract was ambiguous as to which party owned certain customer information in plaintiffs’ ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

Equity Trustees did not breach a deed of trust with the plaintiffs when it completed a foreclosure sale of the plaintiffs’ property. Plaintiffs argued that RoundPoint Mortgage, which was also a defendant, failed to complete preconditions of foreclosure, rendering Equity ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the parties are reading the same documents that form their contract but understanding the same writings in different but not unreasonable ways, the contracts are ambiguous and the trier of fact must resolve the ambiguity. The parties’ competing motions ...

Tagged with: Contract Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Thomas P. Mann Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a federal district court has asked whether Virginia law would apply the collateral source rule in a breach of contract action where an insurer has fully reimbursed the plaintiff for the full amount of damages it sought from the ...

Tagged with: Contract Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia

A real estate project owner did not breach a reciprocal easement agreement (REA) with a business that bought property within the project by adding common area repair and construction costs to monthly common area maintenance (CAM) fees. Facts RAMCO Virginia’s ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Charles S. Sharp Stafford County Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

A dispute between a commercial tenant and landlord is headed to round three, this time because the district court erred in denying damages to the landlord. The commercial tenant is responsible for damages resulting from its early termination of the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where a contract required that the plaintiff spud wells on defendant’s property but did not define the term “spud,” the contract was interpreted as requiring only the drilling of the wells, not their production, consistent with the plain meaning of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Judge Roger L. Gregory

A Roanoke funeral service appears likely to escape liability in a lawsuit over its handling of a decedent’s cremains in the face of family hostility. A judge’s ruling could bar recovery for a Roanoke woman who said the funeral home ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Christopher Clemens Roanoke Circuit Court

Where a public authority’s obligation to repay bonds was conditioned of its receipt of rent from the city, and the city’s payment of that rent was conditioned on the appropriation of funds that were not, ultimately, appropriated, neither the city ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.

The circuit court should have granted a construction company’s motion to compel arbitration after being sued by homeowners for allegedly defective construction. An arbitrator must interpret the arbitration clause in the parties’ contract and determine whether it is impossible to ...

Tagged with: Contract Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia