Term
| Identify the situations in which a contract must be in writing under the statute of frauds |
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Definition
- Contracts for the sale of land or any interest in land
- Contracts that cannot be performed within one year
- Promises to pay another's debt
- Promises in consideration of marriage
- Promises by executors of decedents' estates to pay estate debts from executors' own funds
- Contracts involving sale of personal property for $500 or more
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Term
| Under what circumstances, if any, will an oral executory contract to sell a house and land be legally enforceable? |
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Definition
When the purchaser of real property has taken possession of the property and mad substantial improvements in reliance on an oral contract to sell, most courts enforce the oral contract
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Term
| How have courts interpreted the statute of frauds with regard to contracts that cannot be performed in a year? |
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Definition
| Courts have not favored the on-year requirement and generally hold the provision requiring written contracts inapplicable if it is possible to perform the contract within one year |
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Term
| For sale of personal property under the UCC, what terms must a contract contain to satisfy the statute of frauds? |
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Definition
| It must contain terms relating to the quantity of goods for sale to satisfy the statute of frauds |
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Term
| What type of writing is sufficient to satisfy the statute of frauds? |
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Definition
| A written note or memorandum is sufficient |
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Term
| What insurance contracts, if any, are subject to the statute of frauds? |
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Definition
- Policies that are contracts that cannot be performed within one year
- Policies that are promises to answer for another's debt
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Term
| What is the purpose and effect of the parol evidence rule? |
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Definition
- Carry out the parties' presumed intentions
- Achieve certainty and finality as to the parties rights and duties
- Exclude fraudulent and perjured claims
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Term
| What is a court’s goal in interpreting a contract? |
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Definition
| To determine the intentions of the parties |
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Term
| Describe the effect of treating contracts as divisible |
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Definition
| The performance of a portion of the contract entitles the performing party to immediate payment |
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Term
| Under the UCC, how will a court enforce a contract for the sale of goods when the contract does not contain the price of goods sold? |
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Definition
| A court will assume that the contract implies a reasonable price. |
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Term
| What guidelines do courts use to resolve contradictory terms? |
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Definition
- Handwriting prevails over typewriting
- Typewriting prevails over printing
- Words prevail over figures
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Term
| How do courts resolve ambiguous contractual terms? |
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Definition
| The courts adopt the interpretation least favorable to the party who put the provision into the contract and most favorable for the party who assented to it. If a provision is so ambiguous that its meaning cannot be determined with the usual tools of interpretation, the court can admit evidence from outside the contract |
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Term
How does the UCC reconcile conflicts among the following: - The express terms of an agreement
- Trade usage
- Course of dealing between the parties
- Course of performance between the parties
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Definition
- The express terms of the contract
- Course of performance
- Course of dealings
- Trade usage
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Term
| State the types of situations in which rights may not be assigned |
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Definition
- Legal restrictions
- Contract restrictions
- Personal contracts
- Alteration of performance
- Personal satisfaction contracts
- Damages for personal injury
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Term
| Explain why an assignee of a debt should immediately notify the obligor of the assignment? |
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Definition
| To ensure that the obligor pays the assignees rather than the assignor, thus defeating the original assignor's right to demand the obligor's payment or performance. |
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Term
| In the absence of a provision in the contract to the contrary, may the original parties to a contract cut off the rights of a third-party beneficiary without the consent of the beneficiary? |
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Definition
| The modern legal trend is to permit the original parties in all cases to cut off the beneficiaries' rights unless beneficiaries can prove that their positions have changed materially in reasonable reliance on the contracts |
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Term
| Why do courts recognize substantial performance that falls short of actual performance? |
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Definition
| Rather than permit the promisee to escape liability completely on the ground of nonperformance courts consider whether the performance actually given was substantial performance and whether the party performed in good faith |
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Term
| What is the effect of a contract provision that requires performance by a certain date and states that time is “of the essence’ in this assignment? |
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Definition
| The court will enforce that provision |
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Term
| Explain how one agreement can discharge contractual obligations under another agreement |
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Definition
| By accord and satisfaction, the substitution of a different performance for the performance required in a contract |
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Term
| Identify four changes in circumstances that make performance of a contract impossible |
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Definition
- Change in law
- Death or incapacity
- Destruction of subject matter
- Other party's act
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Term
| Discuss the relationship of increased cost to commercial impracticability |
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Definition
| Increased cost can constitute commercial impracticability if the increase is drastic. However, even in this case, the seller must take commercially reasonable precautions to protect the source of supply |
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Term
| What is the purpose of the doctrine of anticipatory breach? |
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Definition
| It was developed to avoid "enforced idleness" on the part of the aggrieved party, who must wait until the time of performance to sue for breach, and to make it unnecessary for that party to tender performance at the time stated in the contract to prove the other party's breach |
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Term
| What are the effects of a minor breach of contract? |
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Definition
- It temporarily suspends any duty of performance by the nonbreaching party that would have arisen on proper performance
- It gives the aggrieved party a basis to sue for damages for the breach – usually an offset to the agreed price – but not for remedies for breach of the entire contract
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Term
| When does a court award consequential damages for breach of contract? |
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Definition
Only when the defendant was aware of the probable occurrence of the damages
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Term
| When does a court award extracontractual damages against insurers? |
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Definition
- Breach of the insurer's duty of good faith and fair dealing in insurance contracts
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress on the insured by the insurer's extreme and outrageous conduct
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Term
| Under what circumstances do courts order equitable remedies? |
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Definition
- When the buyer has accepted the goods
When a carrier has tendered the goods to the buyer if the contract requires the seller to ship them to the buyer
When the seller has delivered the goods to the carrier if the contract requires the seller to ship them to the buyer
When the seller has delivered the goods to the carrier if the contract provides only for delivery to the carrier and not to the destination - When the third party holds the goods for delivery without them
- When the buyer has received a document indicating the buyer's right to the goods
- When the third party acknowledges the buyer's right to possession
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