Would we still have to pay?

[Mandingo245]

What is the name of your (California)?

Our company signed a lease with a small nursery to use a strip of their land to grow some plants, and we payed the company a $2000 deposit up front. However the city created an ordinance that required a permit to grow plants within city limits that we never heard about, and neither did the small nursery. We were later notified by the city that they couldn't issue us a permit. We tried to get our money back from the nursery but they don't want to return it because we made a legal contract. Could I take this to court? Or I am really legally bound to this contract?

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your (California)?

Our company signed a lease with a small nursery to use a strip of their land to grow some plants, and we payed the company a $2000 deposit up front. However the city created an ordinance that required a permit to grow plants within city limits that we never heard about, and neither did the small nursery. We were later notified by the city that they couldn't issue us a permit. We tried to get our money back from the nursery but they don't want to return it because we made a legal contract. Could I take this to court? Or I am really legally bound to this contract?

Why couldn't they issue you a permit?

It seems to me that if the property belongs to the nursery, that they may have to be the ones to apply for the permit. If that's the case, and they are unwilling to apply and/or unable to get a permit themselves, that then they might have to return your money on an invalid contract.

 

[justalayman]

(boy do I hate to ask but)

what does your contract say to anything that might remotely be applicable to such a situation?






Offhand, without knowing anything more than what you stated, I would say that unless the owner of the land cannot provide it to you such that you can use it as agreed in the contract, they must refund the deposit. Basically, you rented the land to plant stuff on. The owner of the land cannot allow you to do that due to the permit issue. Therefore they could not contract with anybody to allow them to plant stuff on the land because they cannot perform the requirements of the contract placed on them.

 

[Sloop John D]

When was the law passed? Generally, if a law is passed after a contract is formed that would make performance of the contract illegal, the contract becomes void.

If the law was passed before the contract was made, you might be able to claim the contract is voidable due to a mistake of fact, with the mistake being that the land was not available for a purpose that both parties believed it would be available for.

Of course, the simplest way to resolve it would be to reason with the land owners. Obviously they want to keep the money they thought they were getting, but a friendly conversation might help them see how unfair and unreasonable that would be for you.