Liability for eviction and latent defects

When the seller was the owner of the thing, and the thing was delivered in accordance with the law, the buyer acquired ownership. However, eviction occurred when the seller sold a thing that did not belong to him, and the buyer, as a result, was deprived of his possession by the real owner.

The seller was not liable for any defects in the things unless that was expressly established by stipulation. However, a liability for latent defects was introduced by the magistrates with jurisdiction over the market of the city of Rome (aediles curules). Sellers of slaves and beasts of burden had to disclose certain nonobvious and manifest physical and mental defects. Sellers also had to note other specific circumstances: for instance, whether the slave was a fugitive, a vagabond, or burdened with noxal liability. If nondisclosed defects appeared, the buyer could either claim a rescission of the sale by the actio redhibitoria or claim a reduction of the price paid for the slave or animal by the actio quanti minoris. The seller’s liability was strict. It did not depend on his knowledge or ignorance but only on the existence of the defect. This liability for latent defects was extended later to other sales outside the Roman market, and Justinian’s compilers expanded it to all kinds of sales, including sales of land.