Estoppel???
According to a post from a couple of months ago, 'estoppel' is the amount of money due renters for their rent deposits when they move out. Is this the only meaning or can it be used in other contexts as well?
Thanks,
Robert
From the 'Lectric Law Library, one of my favorite sites on the web:
ESTOPPEL - (estopped) A bar which precludes someone from denying the truth of a fact which has been determined in an official proceeding or by an authoritative body. An estopple arises when someone has done some act which the policy of the law will not permit her to deny.
In certain situations, the law refuses to allow a person to deny facts when another person has relied on and acted in accordance with the facts on the basis of the first person's behavior.
There are two kinds of estoppel.
Collateral estoppel prevents a party to a lawsuit from raising a fact or issue which was already decided against him in another lawsuit. For example, if Donna obtained a paternity judgment against Leroy and then sued him for child support, Leroy would be collaterally estopped from claiming he isn't the father.
Equitable estoppel prevents one party from taking a different position at trial than she did at an earlier time if the other party would be harmed by the change. For example, if after obtaining the paternity judgment, Leroy sues Donna for custody, Donna is now equitably estopped from claiming in the custody suit that Leroy is not the father.
An example of the slowly disappearing tendency of the legal profession to speak in secret code. All it means is 'stopped,' 'blocked' or 'not allowed.' Not only is it bizarre but the term does not appear to originate in any known language. Our research indicates it started either as a legal fraternity's drunken prank or was the result of an unknown Judge's severe speech impediment.
Mark,
Thanks. You're mastery of these things is appreciated. What was this website you referred to?
Thanks,
Robert
[addsig]
Here's another one that ties in more closely with our field of real estate...
Let's say you are a real estate agent and one of your friends wants to sell their home, but they want to sell without an agent at all...FSBO.
Let's say that because your friend knows you are an agent, he drops your name to a potential buyer in conversation, and the buyer gets the idea that you are the agent handling your friends sale.
By the doctrine of estoppel, if a seller allows a buyer to believe an agent represents the seller, and the buyer believes it, then the seller cannot later deny the representation of the agent. In short, the seller is now bound by the agency relationship and the actions of the agent.
Also, agents have to beware of establishing this kind of implied agency because they may find themselves representing both buyer and seller in a dual agency role if they're not careful. They're then bound by all of ethics involved in representing both sides of the sale.
Wannabe,
Thanks for the additional application. Hey, did you make it to the last REI meeting in Sacramento?
Robert