Joe Roach v. Thomas Whitehead, 588 S.W.3d 841

In Feb 2017 Roach received a 3‑month option to buy Whitehead’s real property for $90,000. Roach attempted to exercise the option; Whitehead refused to convey.
Roach procured potential buyers who signed an agreement to pay $130,000, but their lender would not close because Roach was not the title owner.
Roach sued for breach (filed Aug 2017), seeking reliance damages, litigation costs, and $40,000 in expectation (loss of the benefit of the bargain).
At bench trial the court found Whitehead not credible, found that Roach had attempted to exercise the option, and held Whitehead in breach, but denied Roach’s $40,000 expectation damages award.
The court awarded Roach costs for finding buyers and litigation expenses, reasoning there was no credible evidence of the property’s market value at the time of breach and that the buyers’ failed financing made the $40,000 figure speculative.
Roach appealed, arguing the buyers’ purchase agreement established the property’s market value; the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Roach was entitled to $40,000 in expectation damages for loss of the bargain	Roach: the contracted buyers’ agreement (for $130,000) shows market value at breach and supports $40,000 award	Whitehead: damages are speculative; buyers’ financing failure and lack of credible proof of market value make the $40,000 claim unsupported	Court: Affirmed denial. Expectation measure is difference between contract price and market value at breach, but no credible evidence of value was offered, so $40,000 was speculative
Whether the trial court’s factual findings (breach and credibility) should be disturbed on appeal	Roach: challenges the damages ruling but not the breach finding	Whitehead: defends trial court’s credibility findings and damage ruling	Court: Standard of review for bench trial applies; appellate court will not reweigh credibility; findings not clearly erroneous

Williams v. Cotton, 14 Ark. App. 80, 684 S.W.2d 837 (1985) (measure of damages for purchaser’s breach is difference between contract price and value at breach)
Green v. Ferguson, 263 Ark. 601, 567 S.W.2d 89 (1978) (subsequent sales may be used to ascertain value in some circumstances)
Hartness v. Nuckles, 2015 Ark. 444, 475 S.W.3d 558 (2015) (standard of review for bench trials: findings not reversed unless clearly erroneous)
Simmons v. Dixon, 96 Ark. App. 260, 240 S.W.3d 608 (2006) (factfinder has sole province to weigh credibility and resolve disputed facts)