PJC Business

PJC 101.51

C ONTRACTS

PJC 101.51 Question on Good-Faith Dispute If you answered “Yes” to Question ______ [ 101.50 ], then answer the follow ing question. Otherwise, do not answer the following question. QUESTION ______ Was Don Davis ’s failure to pay promptly excused? Don Davis ’s failure to pay promptly is excused if— 1. Don Davis disputed in good faith his obligation to pay or the amount of payment, and 2. Don Davis withheld no more than 100 percent of the difference between the amount Paul Payne claims is due and the amount that Don Davis claims is due. [ A good-faith dispute includes a dispute regarding whether the work was performed in a proper manner. ] Answer “Yes” or “No.” Answer: _______________ COMMENT When to use. PJC 101.51 is appropriate when a party disputes that prompt pay ment was owed on the basis that there was a good-faith dispute with regard to the obli gation to pay or the amount of the payment. See Tex. Prop. Code § 28.003(b). Broad-form submission. PJC 101.51 is a broad-form question designed to be accompanied by one or more appropriate instructions. Tex. R. Civ. P. 277 requires that “the court shall, whenever feasible, submit the cause upon broad-form questions.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 277; see Thota v. Young , 366 S.W.3d 678, 689 (Tex. 2012) (rule 277’s use of “whenever feasible” mandates broad-form submission in any or every instance in which it is capable of being accomplished). Contract for construction of or improvements to detached single-family resi dence, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex. The following instruction should be substi tuted if the contract is a contract for construction of or improvements to a detached single-family residence, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex: Don Davis ’s failure to pay promptly is excused if— 1. Don Davis disputed in good faith his obligation to pay or the amount of payment, and

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