Appeals court affirms breach ruling in truck dispute

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The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a Floyd Superior breach of contract ruling for a defendant who made a contract with a purchaser who defaulted after assuming payments on a Freightliner truck.

The appeals court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the plaintiff’s motion for involuntary dismissal or commit reversible error when it concluded that the defendant was estopped from denying the term of the parties’ lease contract.

In Steven Brown v. Chris Guinn, 22A01-1111-SC-524, Steven Brown appealed the trial court decision in Chris Guinn’s favor. Brown had signed a contract to assume payments on a tractor-trailer rig that Guinn had with Daimler Truck Financial.

Brown made payments for three months, but then failed to pay for three months and the truck was repossessed.

Though the contract was not produced in court, both parties testified that such a contract had been agreed to. It included provisions that either party could cancel the contract at any time.

Brown, who drafted the contract, said he canceled it after the last monthly payment he made because he had another buyer for the truck, but the sale fell through.

Brown also claimed the trial court’s decision was clearly erroneous. “Brown’s arguments on appeal are without merit,” Judge Edward Najam Jr. wrote in a unanimous decision.

 

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