Buis v. Elliott

Opinion of the Court by

Justice STUMBO.

Appellant, Gary Buis, appeals the decision of the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Casey Circuit Court’s dismissal of his complaint against Roger and Sheila Elliott (“the Elliotts”) on the grounds of res judicata. We accepted discretionary review and hereby reverse the Court of Appeals.

In 1994, the Elliotts entered into a land contract with Cox (not a party to this action), whereby Cox agreed to purchase from the Elliotts two tracts of land in Casey County. In 1998, the Elliotts, believing that Cox had defaulted on payment, re-entered and took…