Askari

Plaintiff and cross-defendant Mansour Askari appeals a judgment of damages against him for breach of contract to purchase real property, raising issues of contract interpretation and allowance of damages under the Civil Code. Defendant and cross-complainant R & R Land Company (R & R) also appeals the amount of damages the trial court awarded.

We reverse the judgment and remand for factual determinations regarding consequential damages. The trial judge must determine the following: (1) Whether the consequential damages were reasonably foreseeable at the time of contracting; (2) whether the property had any value of use to R & R during the period of breach through trial; (3) whether R & R made diligent efforts to resell the property after Askari breached the contract and (4) whether the notice of lis pendens Askari filed against the property prevented such resale. We also remand for additional evidence of the property’s value at the time of trial and a redetermination of damages.

Facts

Mansour Askari agreed to purchase 84 acres of Santa Barbara real property from R & R for $1.25 million. Both Askari and Raymond Chavez, the president and sole stockholder of R & R, were…