Facts
The plaintiff and B. had X. AG (the defendant) prepare a market value appraisal of a property in Z. within the framework of an inheritance division process. The appraisal report dated June 21, 1994 estimated the market value at CHF 573,000. Subsequently, this value was used as the basis for the inheritance division. On July 1, 1999, the plaintiff sold the property for CHF 440,000. The plaintiff then claimed damages of CHF 32,483.90 against the defendant, as he believed the market value appraisal had been too high.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first had to clarify the rules according to which the liability of the defendant was to be assessed. It concluded that the contract for the preparation of the market value appraisal is to be qualified as a mandate pursuant to Art. 394 CO, as the result of a market value appraisal cannot be evaluated as right or wrong based on objective criteria.
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