55-434 - Unconscionable agreement or term of contract. - Virginia Statutes

§ 55-434. Unconscionable agreement or term of contract.

A. The court, upon finding as a matter of law that a contract or contractclause was unconscionable at the time the contract was made may (i) refuse toenforce the contract; (ii) enforce the remainder of the contract without theunconscionable clause; or (iii) limit the application of any unconscionableclause in order to avoid an unconscionable result.

B. Whenever it is claimed, or appears to the court, that a contract or anycontract clause is or may be unconscionable, the parties, in order to aid thecourt in making the determination, shall be afforded a reasonable opportunityto present evidence as to:

1. The commercial setting of the negotiations;

2. Whether a party has knowingly taken advantage of the inability of theother party to reasonably protect his interests by reason of physical ormental infirmity, illiteracy, or inability to understand the language of theagreement or similar factors;

3. The effect and purpose of the contract or clause; and

4. If a sale, any gross disparity at the time of contracting between theamount charged for the cooperative interest and the value of the cooperativeinterest measured by the price at which similar cooperative interests werereadily obtainable in similar transactions, but a disparity between thecontract price and the value of the cooperative interest measured by theprice at which similar cooperative interests were readily obtainable insimilar transactions does not, of itself, render the contract unconscionable.

(1982, c. 277.)