Camden Mach. & Tool Inc. v. Cascade Co

In Camden Mach. & Tool Inc. v. Cascade Co., 870 S.W.2d 304, 311 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 1993, no writ) the Fort Worth Court of Appeals has held that a seller's representations were not the producing cause of the buyer's injuries where the buyer undertook his own investigation prior to purchasing the property. Camden Mach. & Tool, Inc., 870 S.W.2d at 313. In Camden, the buyer sought an appraisal of the building he sought to purchase. Camden Mach. & Tool, 870 S.W.2d at 307. After the appraisal revealed a previously-undisclosed crack in the foundation, the buyer investigated the cost to repair the foundation and received varying estimates. Camden Mach. & Tool, 870 S.W.2d at 308. Despite the seller's unwillingness to renegotiate and the buyer's own awareness that the foundation problem was severe, the buyer decided to "bite the bullet" and absorb the repair costs in his purchase price. Id. The court concluded that the buyer's subsequent investigation and continued habitation established that he would have purchased the building regardless of seller's representations, and thus, established as a matter of law that the seller's statements were not the producing cause of his injuries. Camden Mach. & Tool, 870 S.W.2d at 313.