Opinion ID: 768363
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Satisfaction of Claims as Condition Precedent to Return

Text: 19 Appellants' reliance upon Article 2532's provision that the purchaser need not return the defective product until all his claims, or judgments, arising from the defect are satisfied, LA. CIV. CODE art. 2532 (1995), is misplaced. Because Article 2532 was not in effect at the time of the transaction, it cannot guide our decision in this case. See Insurance Storage Pool, 732 So.2d at 819 n.1; Jackson, 693 So.2d at 1262 n.5. Instead, we must look to pre-amendment law to determine the validity of this condition. 20 Before the enactment of Article 2532, Louisiana courts required return of the thing either as a condition precedent to the execution of the judgment or as a condition subsequent to it. Compare Prince v. Paretti Pontiac Co., Inc., 281 So.2d 112, 117 (La. 1973) ([T]here will be judgment in favor of plaintiff, . . . in the amount of $4959.37, . . . conditioned upon the return of [plaintiff's] 1970 Pontiac Lemans.); Peoples Furniture & Gift v. Carson Hicks/Friedricks Refrigeration, Inc., 326 So.2d 919, 924 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 1976) ([A]s a condition precedent to the execution of this judgment against defendants, plaintiff is ordered to return the air conditioning unit to the defendants.) with Associates Fin. Serv. Co., Inc., 382 So.2d 215, 222 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 1980) ([Defendant must] pay and discharge remaining obligation [on a truck] . . . contingent that upon payment of said sum, [financing company] deliver the subject truck to [defendant].); Murret v. Mark II Elec. of La., Inc., 169 So.2d556, 559-60 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1964). ([D]efendant . . . [must] deliver to plaintiffs their promissory note . . . . [D]efendant is declared entitled to possession of the equipment upon [delivery of the note].). As pre-amendment law recognized both approaches as acceptable, the district court did not err in requiring return of the shingles as a condition precedent to the execution of the Appellants' judgment. 21