Walter Implement, Inc. v. Focht

—This case involves the question of whether a liquidated damages clause in a preprinted equipment lease form is a proper remedy following the lessee's default. The trial court upheld the liquidated damages clause. We reverse.

In 1980, Donald Focht, a farmer, contacted Walter Implement, Inc., about obtaining a replacement for his old tractor. After conferring with James Walter, manager and president of Walter Implement, Mr. Focht entered into a 5-year lease agreement of an Allis-Chalmers tractor, disc, plow and two cultipackers. The parties signed an Allis-Chalmers Credit Corporation standard…