14/03/2021
Action for damages for non-acceptance of the goods
Art. 1596. Where the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to accept and pay for the goods, the seller may maintain an action against him for damages for nonacceptance.
The measure of damages is the estimated loss directly and naturally resulting in the ordinary course of events from the buyer’s breach of contract.
Where there is an available market for the goods in question, the measure of damages is, in the absence of special circumstances showing proximate damage of a different amount, the difference between the contract price and the market or current price at the time or times when the goods ought to have been accepted, or, if no time was fixed for acceptance, then at the time of the refusal to accept.
If, while labor or expense of material amount is necessary on the part of the seller to enable him to fulfill his obligations under the contract of sale, the buyer repudiates the contract or notifies the seller to proceed no further therewith, the buyer shall be liable to the seller for labor performed or expenses made before receiving notice of the buyer’s repudiation or countermand. The profit the seller would have made if the contract or the sale had been fully performed shall be considered in awarding the damages. (n)
*The seller may demand for damages when the buyer fails to accept the goods without lawful case and fails to pay the price agreed upon. He may also demand damages when the ownership has not yet passed and the seller cannot recover the price of the goods. He also has an action for damages when the goods are not yet identified at the time of the contract. The damages may be measured by the labor performed and expenses incurred for the materials or the profit that would have been realized have it not for the non-acceptance of the buyer.