What the court clarified
The court applied Civil Code articles 352 and 405 to material deviations from the agreed property characteristics; loss-of-profit recovery depended on proof.
Can a buyer withdrawing from an off-plan commercial property agreement recover the price, a penalty and projected profit together?
Attach plans and material access or layout requirements to the signed agreement. In any claim, separate the prepayment, financing cost, penalty and projected operating profits, identify evidence for each and avoid double recovery.
Continue reading belowMaterial facts
The agreed 170 m² retail premises were to have particular access points and shared space. Changes to the development removed material commercial features. The buyer claimed refund of USD 459,000, a contractual penalty, financing costs and hypothetical future income; lower courts treated these heads of claim differently.
Court reasoning and holding
The Supreme Court found that the seller had not been able to deliver the premises with the essential agreed characteristics. Applying Civil Code articles 352 and 405, it ordered return of USD 459,000 and a reduced contractual penalty of USD 28,917. The proposed future retail profits were not recovered in full. Restitution, contractual penalty and lost-profit damages have distinct proof requirements.
Practical application: what to examine
Attach plans and material access or layout requirements to the signed agreement. In any claim, separate the prepayment, financing cost, penalty and projected operating profits, identify evidence for each and avoid double recovery.
Limits of the precedent
Amounts are the outcome of this historic dispute, not a statutory tariff or universal damages formula.
Provisions considered by the court
Civil Code 352, 405
Historic provisions cited by the court may differ from present law. Consult the official legislative gazette for the current text. matsne.gov.ge
Read the primary decision
The note is grounded in a published Supreme Court explanation and decision. Review the full document when checking its reasoning, procedural outcome and factual context.