A statement of the circumstances of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Representations of circumstances and warranties. Invalid representations of the circumstances.
The parties include assurances of circumstances in the contracts, as a rule, in cases where it is impossible to carry out a full verification of circumstances or the parties wish to protect themselves from the possible risk of discovering circumstances that could not have been assumed at the stage of the transaction. For example, when buying a car, it is advisable to request assurances from the seller that the object has the level of quality that the buyer expects to see. The presence of assurances allows the buyer to recover losses from the seller upon detection of hidden flaws.
The plot of the case:
The lessor purchased the vehicle from the seller and transferred it to the recipient under the lease agreement. The recipient appealed to the arbitration court with a claim to reduce the purchase price due to identified defects in property. The seller assured that there were no defects, however, the defects were identified after acceptance, an examination was carried out, which established that the defects occurred before the date of transfer.
The courts of two instances refused the buyer, did not accept the results of their examination, the deficiencies should have been identified before the date of transfer of the vehicle. According to the courts, the plaintiff did not prove that the flaws belonged to the category of hidden ones and could not be revealed during a routine inspection of the property.
The cassation court quashed the decisions and sent the case back for a new trial.
Judicial act: Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District of 08.08.2019 in case No. A40-273124 / 18
Court findings:
1. The expert report confirmed that the car was subjected to a deforming effect, restoration work was carried out in violation of the repair and painting technology, using used parts. The poor quality of the restoration, the presence of damage that could have been most likely caused by an accident, the possible period of damage — until the date the car was handed over to the recipient — gave reason to appeal for a reduction in the purchase price.
2. The seller’s assurances of the quality of the transferred object were established in the sales contract, the seller established a warranty period for the goods.
3. Civil law allows to recover damages from the side of the contract, which violated the issued assurances of circumstances, if the other party was entitled to rely on such assurances when concluding and executing the contract.
4. Representations mean acceptance by a party of responsibility for the facts that this party reports and which are relevant to the contract, for the conformity of these facts with reality.
5. When accepting the goods, the plaintiff was not obliged to carry out a detailed inspection of the goods and reflect any deficiencies in the act of acceptance and transfer due to the assurances about the quality of the goods provided by the seller.
6. The seller is not entitled to invoke the fact that the recipient did not perform a detailed inspection.
7. A warranty period has been established for the goods, within which the recipient has the right to apply to the seller, regardless of whether defects were discovered at the time of acceptance or later. The burden of proof of the absence of deficiencies at the time of transfer of the goods is the seller.
Comments:
1) The court did not accept the results of the examination conducted by the defendant. If the court doubts about the causes and mechanisms of damage and defects of the vehicle, the court should have appointed an examination, since special knowledge is required.
2) It is important that in this case, the seller gave a guarantee on the goods. When accepting a car, the buyer cannot inspect and reveal some kind of concealment of flaws, as well as defects that can only be detected by diagnosing or using special equipment. The warranty period is given for the possibility of claims to the seller in case of detection of hidden damage after acceptance.
3) The court indicated that upon reconsideration, it should be assessed whether the plaintiff has the right to make claims in court. The plaintiff is a lessee, not a buyer, he did not directly accept from the seller. Based on the content of the judicial acts, the primary acceptance was carried out by the lessor.
Defects were identified by the lessee after the buyer accepted the vehicle from the seller. Damage could occur after the disposal of the object by the seller. An examination is necessary to establish the possible time for causing damage to property.
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