Chapter Ten Requirements for an Offer the offeror gives the offeree the power to bind her contract simply by accepting the offer Special Offer Problem Areas Objective indication of a present intent to contract specificity or definiteness has the offer been communicated to the offeree Intent to Contract offeror must indicate present intent to contract intent to enter the contract upon acceptance o Signifies that the offeror is not joking haggling or equivocating Objective Standard of Intent contract has nothing to do with the personal or individual intent of the parties A contract is an obligation attached by the mere force of law to certain acts of the parties usually words which ordinarily accompany and represent a known intent Definiteness of Terms definiteness and specificity in an offer tend to indicate an intent to contract whereas indefiniteness and lack of specificity tend to indicate that the parties are still negotiating and have not yet reached agreement Communication to Offeree when offeror communicates the terms of an offer to an offeree he objectively indicates an intent to be bound by those terms Advertisements generally advertisement for the sale of goods at specified prices are not considered offers invitations to offer or negotiate o Particular ads have been held to amount to offers ads that limit the power of acceptance to one offeree or a small number of offerees Rewards advertisements offering rewards for lost property information or for the capture of criminals are generally treated as offers for unilateral contracts o Must perform requested act to accept offer and be entitled to stated reward Auctions sellers at auctions are generally treated as making an invitation to offer unless without reserve those bidding are treated as making offers that the owner of the goods may accept of reject o Acceptance occurs when auctioneer strikes the good off to the highest bidder auctioneer may withdraw the good at any time before acceptance Bids advertisement for bids are generally treated as invitations to offer submitting a bid is considered an offer o Bidders can withdraw their bids at any time prior to acceptance by the offeree inviting the bids o Previously announced terms of bidding may alter rules stating that contract will be awarded to lowest responsible bidder o Promissory estoppel may prevent bidders from withdrawing their Offerees are bound only by terms of which they had actual or reasonable bids notice Termination of Offers was the offer still in existence when the offeree attempted to accept it Terms of the Offer may include terms in the offer that limit its effective life or specify methods of acceptance Lapse of Time offers that fail to provide specific time for acceptance are valid for a reasonable time Revocations General Rule Offers are revocable offerors may revoke their offers at any time prior to acceptance even if they have promised to hold the offer open for a stated period of time Exceptions to the General Rule o Options a separate contract in which an offeror agrees not to revoke her offer for a stated time in exchange for some valuable consideration o Offers for unilateral contracts in cases where the offeree is relying on offers such as a unilateral offer if the offeree has begun performance the offeror s power to revoke is suspended for the amount of time reasonably necessary for the offeree to complete performance some courts say a bilateral contract is created once the offeree begins performance o Promissory Estoppel when the offeree relies on the offer being kept open the doctrine of promissory estoppel can operate to prevent offerors from revoking their offers prior to acceptance o Firm offers for the sale of goods firm offer is irrevocable for a period of time offer does not require consideration be given in exchange for the offeror s promise to keep offer open Made by an offeror who is a merchant Be contained in writing any symbol with the intent of authenticating a writing Give assurance that the offer will be kept open Outer limit for firm offer is three months o Time of Effectiveness of Revocations revocations are effective only when they are actually received by the offeree major exemption for offers to the general public Rejection offeree may expressly reject an offer by indicating that he is unwilling to accept it he may also impliedly reject it by making a counter offer an offer to contract on terms materially different from the terms of the offer Time of Effectiveness of Rejection rejections are effective only when actually received by offeror Death or Insanity of Either Party death or insanity of other party to an offer automatically terminates the offer without notice Destruction of the Subject Matter if prior to acceptance the subject matter of a proposed contract is destroyed without the knowledge or fault of either party the offer is terminated Intervening Illegality an offer is terminated if the performance of the contract it proposes becomes illegal before the offer is accepted
View Full Document
Unlocking...