Maddox v. Cosper

OPINION

REX D. DAVIS, Chief Justice.

Jack Cosper made the high bid at an auction for the purchase of three tracts of real property totaling 370 acres owned by Orville Ray Maddox. Cosper paid a fifteen percent earnest money deposit at the conclusion of the auction and was given a receipt. He later discovered that the house on the property did not have running water and demanded a refund of the earnest money. Maddox filed a declaratory judgment action to determine the rights of the parties to the money.

The parties filed competing motions for summary judgment. The court granted Cosper’s motion and…