Question 1 –
Contract Law Question
William, who has had difficulty making up his mind for most of his 29 years, was sitting around on Sunday with some of his friends. At one point, he says, “I’m going to try to sell my car, and if I get an offer close to $9,000 I’m going to take it.” Mike, one of the friends, thinks to himself that this might be a good deal. The following events occur later that same week: Monday: William arranges with the local newspaper for an advertisement to run beginning on Saturday which will say, “1999 Honda Prelude, excellent, 1st $8,000 takes it. See it at 1902 Maple Street.”
Thursday: Mike delivers a note to William, which William reads later on Thursday. The note says, “I’ll take your car for $9,000” and what about new tires, and is signed by Mike.
Friday: William thinks he may have under priced the car and calls the paper to cancel. It is too late to make changes for Saturday so the ad runs. A new ad will start Sunday that says 1999 Honda Prelude excellent many options available. $10,000. Friday night before he goes to bed, he moves the car to the next door neighbor’s driveway and put a sign on the car $10,000.
Saturday: Bob shows up with $8,000 in hand to buy the car. William refuses to sell the car to Bob.
Mike and Bob each separately sue William wanting to force him to sell the car claiming that a contract has been formed. Discuss separately each case and how it might come out, including the arguments the parties would most likely raise. Support your answer with law. Cite pages in the text.
Question 2 – John operates a motorcycle repair shop from his home but finds that his business is limited by the small size of his garage. Driving by a neighbor’s property, he notices a for-sale sign on a large, metal-sided garage. John contacts the neighbor and offers to buy the building, hoping that it can be dismantled and moved to his own property. The neighbor accepts John’s payment and makes a generous offer in return: if John will help him dismantle the garage, which will take a substantial amount of time, he will help John reassemble it after it has been transported to john’s property. They agree to have the entire job completed within two weeks.
John spends every day for a week working with his neighbor to disassemble the building. In his rush to acquire a larger workspace, he turns down several lucrative repair jobs. Once the disassemble building has been moved to John’s property, however, the neighbor refuses to help John reassemble it as he originally promised.
1. Are the basic elements of consideration present in the neighbor’s promise to help John reassemble the garage? Why or why not?
2. Suppose that the neighbor starts to help John but then realizes that, because of the layout of John’s property, putting the building back together will take much more work than dismantling it took. Under which principle might the neighbor be allowed to ask for additional compensation?
Question 3 – Ed, a businessperson, is a friend of Fran, the owner of a candy store. Every day, Ed spends five minutes in Fran’s candy store, looking at the candy and usually buying one or two candy bars. One afternoon, Ed goes into the store, looks at the candy, and picks up a $1 candy bar. Ed waves the candy at Fran without saying a word and walks out. Is there a contract? If so, how would it be classified in terms of formation, performance, and enforceability?