In September, 1997, the Washington State Court of Appeals affirmed the King County Superior Court’s Ruling that John L. Scott Violated The Consumer Protection Act and Breached its fiduciary duty when it kept a prospective buyer’s $5,000 earnest money deposit. John L. Scott appealed the case three times: from arbitration to Superior Court; to Appeals Court; to the Washington State Supreme Court, which denied review in May 1988. This process took over four years from the time Ms. Edmonds paid her earnest money to John L. Scott. John L. Scott was ordered to pay Ms. Edmonds a total of $153,859 for refusing to return her earnest money. This included the $5,000 earnest money, $10,000 punitive damage, $23,000 in interest, and attorney fees. It took Ms. Edmonds more than four years to get justice. Judge Jarvis Paid tribute to Ms. Edmonds for understanding the cost and risk of the lengthy battle on behalf of consumers.
1. Read the oral opinion from the Superior Court(1998) 2. Read the Appellate Court's decision (1997) 3. Read the Seattle Times article 4. Read an excerpt from Washington Law & Politics 5. Return to the Home Page