BUL 3310 EXAM 4 Study Guide Contracts A legally enforceable agreement There must be 1 An agreement Manifestation of mutual assent a The objective Theory of Contracts Meeting of the minds Agreeing to the same thing at the same time on the same terms EX Seller of a horse sends a letter to the buyer with an offer to sell his horse for 2200 Buyer agrees and sends the seller a check for 2200 Seller gets the check and says Wait I was trying to sell the horse for 2500 not 2200 We don t have an agreement If taken to court buyer would win 2 Obligation There must be a legal duty to fulfill it Types of Contracts 1 Express agreement manifested in words oral or written EX Apartment Lease 2 Implied agreement manifested by conduct all of the terms must be impledly reasonable EX Dentist fills a cavity and then sends the bill for 500 Though you did not agree in writing to pay 500 it is implied that you wanted to get the cavity filled 3 Unilateral promise for an act EX Reward for a lost dog EX Commision for real estate agent 4 Bilateral Promise for a promise a Each person promises something DOES NOT have to be written 5 Executory Not yet performed EX a futures contract 6 Executed Completely performed There s a difference between a social agreement and a business contract Weddings have both social and legal implications EX Pre nuptial agreement or post nuptial Elements of a Valid Contract 1 Mutual Assent offer acceptance A Offer Promise to do something for something in return Essential Elements 1 A promise to render a stated performance in return for the requested counter performance a Promissory language requirement EX I promise to buy sell EX I will buy sell EX I hereby undertake the obligation to buy sell b Effect of equivocal language Not an effective way to make a contract EX I am thinking about buying EX I am considering buying EX I am contemplating buying 2 Essential terms must be certain a Avoid ambiguous language EX Avoid the word SOME it avoids certainty of 3 Promise must be communicated under circumstances which manifest present serious amount contractual interest Cannot be joking around must determine if you re being serious EX Bar advertises that they will pay 5 per year for the period between this year 1980 and the year of an event depicted on a t shirt 1980 1969 Woodstock 11 years x 5 55 for the Woodstock shirt Guy walks in with a shirt depicting the Magna Carta 1215 1980 1215 765 years x 5 3825 The manager wouldn t pay him Judge rules that if it was interpreted as a serious offer which it was than it is a legitimate contract FSU student won 5000 Termination of Offer Does an offer stay open forever A Expiration of time specified A deadline is set 1 If no time is specified offer terminates after a reasonable time based on totality of circumstances This depends on what is being sold the rate of price fluctuation etc Price is a big factor EX Borders book store has rebate coupon that s only valid during store hours for a certain number of days Offerror has total control over the offer Deadlines are set to know whether a person is willing to buy at or before a specific time B Rejection 1 Express refusal 2 Counter offer 3 Conditional acceptance no offeree makes a counter offer to offeror accept offer with an added condition Rejection is effective when received by offeror C Revocation aofferor withdrawals offer a Offer is revocable at any time before acceptance b Revocation is effective when received by the offeree Option Contracts A separate contract between the buyer and seller that designates a time to keep the offer open for the buyer to decide if they want it or not EX I will pay you 1000 if you keep the offer open to me until dec 15th if you decide to accept the offer the 1000 gets credited to the purchase price D Death insanity of offeror or offeree E Supervening Illegality exports to Syria Law is enacted making the offer illegal EX President Bush bans F Destruction of Subject Matter EX Boat being sold gets destroyed by a hurricane Acceptance A Who may accept offer a Only the party to whom the offer is made B Conformity mirror image rule Acceptance must conform to the offer The acceptance must be exactly what the offer C Conduct as acceptance their payment a Cashing depositing of a check If you deposit someone s check you ve accepted b Acceptance of document implies acceptance of terms on the document EX The terms on an airline ticket are the holders responsibility EX Plumber comes to your apartment to fix the toilet and bills you 500 Seeing as this is a ridiculous number you send him back 150 as a compromise of debt The plumber cashes the check but then informs you that you still owe the remainder If taken to court the plumber would lose because his cashing of the check represented his acceptance D Silence does not generally constitute acceptance Unsolicited merchandise belongs to you Reality of Consent A Central issue Was acceptance of contract offer real and voluntary ie Was their real consent B Consent may be vitiated maid void by 1 Misrepresentation upon causing injury misstatement or omission of material fact justifiably relied EX Someone tells you something that s not true and you lose money ie Odometer rollback 2 Fraud Intentional misrepresentation 3 Duress Wrongful threat or act which forces a person into a contract EX Person puts gun to your head and tells you to sign the contract 4 Undue influence unfair advantage taken by a superior party in a fiduciary trustful relationship EX A client trust his lawyer and the lawyer takes advantage of that trust 5 Mistake a Mutual mistake of fact remedy available b Unilateral generally no remedy Exception Mistake is so large that other party knew should have known mistake EX Schoolboard buying milk from dairy factory They were charged 100 000 but when in fact the amount billed was supposed to be 110 000 In this case the judge would rule no remedy as it is not a substantial differnec However if the school was billed 10 000 instead of 110 000 on accident a remedy would be put into effect C A contract induced by misrepresentation fraud duress undue influence or mistake is voidable at the election of the injured party 1 Remedy of Recission Return to Status Quo Ante Return to original state before contract was made 2 Recission must be seasonable within a reasonable time EX Jewelry store sells man a fake emerald ring When he figures this out he decides to return to the Status Quo Ante whereby the ring is returned to the jeweler and the
View Full Document
Unlocking...