COMM 393 Chapter : Case Brief - Peacock V. Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway Co. ā PRIVITY OF CONTRACT.docx
Document Summary
Peacock v. esquimalt & nanaimo railway co. privity of contract. Plaintiff put up a deposit on a land purchase on behalf of a syndicate of buyers (wessex. Management, west steel corp, darrell brown, and alan parkin) from the defendants (esquimalt. As a condition of the purchase agreement, if the contract is breached the purchasers are entitled to a refund of deposit (net the necessary costs of clean- up. ) A fire occurred which rendered the land non-manageable for the purchasers (a subsequent frustrating event,) thus discharging the contract. The plaintiff pursues a claim to the value of the deposit, claiming that an oral agreement between itself and the defendants obligates the firm to return the deposit in the event the purchase is not completed. The defendants claim the plaintiff has no privity to the contract (as a third party) and has no title to repayment of the deposit.