In Louisiana law, a sale of a home for $60,000 when its fair value is $200,000 may be challenged under which remedy?

• A. Rescission
• B. Lesion Beyond Moiety
• C. Specific performance
• D. Hardship relief

Answer: (B)

In Louisiana, there is a protection for sales of immovable property called lesion beyond moiety. It kicks in when the price paid for a property is far below its value—specifically, when the price is less than one-half of the property's fair value. The remedy allows the aggrieved party to challenge the sale and either rescind it or have the price adjusted to half the value.

Here, the home’s fair value is 200,000, but it was sold for 60,000. Half of the value is 100,000, so 60,000 is well below half. This satisfies the threshold for lesion beyond moiety, making that remedy available. The court could either rescind the sale or reduce the sale price to half the value (and address the resulting restitution accordingly).

Specific performance wouldn’t apply here because the issue isn’t compelling the completion of a bargain at a grossly undervalued price. Hardship relief isn’t the mechanism for addressing an undervalued sale either. The most appropriate remedy in this scenario is lesion beyond moiety, which directly addresses the excessive undervaluation of the transaction.