Monetary Damages as Part of a Specific Performance Claim

Updated on August 15, 2017

When the buyer is awarded specific performance of a purchase and sale agreement, the buyer is entitled to be restored to the position it would have been in had the contract been fully performed in a timely manner. Accordingly, a buyer who obtains specific performance is entitled to an accounting to determine the amount of the monetary award accompanying the specific performance decree.  This provision in the law is particularly applicable to buyer of rental properties who is entitled to the rents collected during the time that seller’s performance was previously due but not done.

The accounting that accompanies a specific performance case does not just take into account the income that the buyer would have received it also must take into account the seller’s expenses during that time period.    That said, the provision for an accounting is not as broad as some plaintiff buyer’s attempt to make it.  In other words, it does not leave the door wide open to other types of monetary claims. For example, at least one case has held that a buyer was not entitled to its rental costs for occupying other property during the period afer the seller’s breach because there was no relationship between those costs and the rental value of the property at issue. Smith v. Schrader, 80 Cal. App. 478, 493 (1926).

For help with your specific performance matter and the accompanying accounting, please do not hesitate to contact Zachary D. Schorr of Schorr Law, APC at  310-954-1877, or [email protected]. You can also fill out the Contact Form on the side of the page.