Bryant v. Willison Real Estate Co., 350 S.E.2d 748 (W. Va. 1986)
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited opinion.
- Citation: Bryant v. Willison Real Estate Co., 177 W. Va. 120, 350 S.E.2d 748 (1986).
- Court / Year: Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, 1986 (decided November 20, 1986).
- Topic tags: equitable_interest · equitable_conversion · risk_of_loss
- Facts: Buyers entered a real-estate sales contract (January 4, 1980) to purchase a commercial building in Clarksburg for 10,000 down payment. Before the deed was delivered, a water line broke (February 18, 1980) and damaged the building. The vendors refused to repair or rescind, later resold the property for $140,000, and the buyers sued for rescission and return of their down payment. The trial court ruled against the buyers, holding them responsible for the loss.
- Holding: Reversing on the risk-of-loss point, the court held that the risk of pre-conveyance casualty loss fell on the vendors because the contract, by its terms, made the vendors responsible for the property until delivery of the deed. Parties to a contract of sale may allocate the risk of loss for casualty occurring before transfer of legal title; where the contract allocates that risk to the vendor, the equitable-conversion default (which would place the risk on the purchaser/equitable owner) does not apply.
- Reasoning: Under equitable conversion the purchaser is ordinarily treated as the equitable owner who bears the risk of loss between contract and deed — but that is a default rule the parties may contract around. The court read the contract to place responsibility for the building on the vendors until conveyance, so the vendors, not the buyers, bore the casualty loss.
- Practical impact for CFD operators/buyers: Confirms two West Virginia points relevant to contracts for deed: (1) the equitable-conversion doctrine governs the vendor–vendee relationship before the deed passes; and (2) risk of loss is contract-governed — a well-drafted land contract should expressly allocate casualty risk (and insurance duty) rather than rely on the equitable-conversion default. For operators, the lesson is to draft the risk-of-loss and insurance clauses deliberately.
- Good-law status: Good law; the standard West Virginia authority on risk of loss / equitable conversion in land-sale contracts.
- Source (retrieved): https://law.justia.com/cases/west-virginia/supreme-court/1986/17124-5.html · Verified: 2026-06-08
Jurisdictions that follow / cite: west-virginia; see equitable-conversion.
Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Confirm the opinion is still good law before relying on it.