Peterson

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

Plaintiff Susan A. Peterson (Plaintiff) and defendants Raul and Noemi Rubio (Defendants) entered into a business transaction. Plaintiff understood the transaction to be a loan from Defendants, secured by a promissory note she owned. Defendants understood the transaction to be a purchase and sale of the promissory note. When their divergent understandings came to light, Plaintiff sued Defendants for rescission, financial elder abuse, and usury. After a bench trial, the court found in favor of Defendants. Plaintiff maintains the transaction was a loan, not a sale; Defendants could not unilaterally repudiate the loan agreement nor could they elect to purchase her note without giving new consideration; and alternatively, if the transaction was a sale of her note, it should be rescinded because there was no meeting of the minds or she made a mistake of fact in executing the transaction documents. She also claims the interest rate was usurious, and the court mistakenly failed to reach the merits of her elder abuse claim. We reverse the judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff’s rescission claim. The court erroneously concluded the transaction documents…