D. Damages

• Library: South Carolina Damages (SCBar) (2009 Ed.)

D. Damages

In a cause of action for fraud, it is well settled that South Carolina follows the majority benefit-of-the-bargain rule: recovery is the difference between the value the plaintiff would have received if the facts had been as represented and the value he actually received, together with any special or consequential loss which is the natural or proximate result of the fraud.²⁰

Damages that are the natural and proximate consequence of the fraud are limited to those that "can be clearly defined and ascertained, including those which were actually or presumptively within the contemplation of the parties when the fraud was committed."²¹unlike many other states, however, in South Carolina emotional shock, inconvenience, and embarrassment are not proper elements of damages in an action for fraud.²²

There are certain limitations. A defrauded purchaser who sues for damages rather than rescission of the contract is barred from recouping any portion of the purchase price.²³Moreover, because the purchaser, under the benefit-of-the-bargain rule, "recovers the difference between the value of what he got and the value it would have had if as represented, he can not recover expenditures necessary to make the property conform to the representations or for outlays incurred in carrying out the bargain."²⁴ Still, he may "recover miscellaneous consequential losses which are the direct and natural consequence of his acting on the faith of the representations."²⁵

Similar to damages for...