Defendant sellers sought review of a decision from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County (California), which entered a judgment in favor of plaintiff buyers in their action to recover the purchase price they paid for shares of stock that the sellers were without title or right to transfer.
Overview: civil defense lawyers Los Angeles
The buyers purchased from the sellers 70 shares of hotel stock for $ 7,000. The buyers filed an action to recover the $ 7,000 because they alleged that the sellers were without title to or interest in the stock. The trial court entered a judgment in favor of the buyers for $ 7,000. The court reversed the trial court's judgment. The buyers alleged that they had purchased the 70 shares of stock at their par value of $ 100 each for a total of $ 7,000 but failed to offer proof thereof. The general rule was that in the absence of evidence stock was to be assessed its par value. However, such rule did not apply in the buyers' action because they sought to recover the actual price that they paid for the stock, not the actual value of the stock. Thus, the sellers were entitled to a new trial.
Outcome
The court reversed the trial court's judgment in favor of the buyers in their action to recover the purchase price of stock which they had bought from the sellers.