Contract Assignment Discussion Paper
A contract is an implied, spoken or written agreement between two or more competent parties that involves relative exchanges of monetary value. The implication is that a court or any other judicial body can be invited intervene should a contract be violated. The invitation takes the form of one party filing a breach of contract case. It is important to note that although the contracted parties might expect the exchange to be fair, it does not follow that all the parties will benefit to an equal extent (Knapp, Crystal & Prince, 2019). In addition, it is important to note that the existence of a contract does not necessary imply that it can be enforced or that it is not voidable. Still, written contract should be preferred since they lay down the terms of the agreement and protect all parties. Besides that, it should be noted that some contracts are assumed and enforced by the law irrespective of whether the parties discussed the existence of the contract. Such contracts are intended to offer basic protection (Barkacs et al., 2015). The present paper offers a case analysis of contracts. Contract Assignment Discussion Paper
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Discussion
A contract is a legally binding promise between two or more parties. It has four elements: an offer, a consideration, an acceptance, and mutuality. The first element, an offer, would be deemed to exist if one party makes a voluntary promise to either do a specified action or refrain from doing a specified action in the future. The second element, a consideration, would be deemed to exist if something of value (such as money or effort) is promised in exchange for the action or inaction defined in the offer. The third element, an acceptance, would be deemed to exist if the parties make an unambiguous acknowledgement of the offer and consideration through performance, deeds or words. Failing to unambiguously acknowledge the offer and consideration is considered a rejection or counteroffer. The fourth element, mutuality, would be deemed to exist if the parties have an intention to create a legal relationship through understanding and agreeing to the terms of the contract and its basic substance (Knapp, Crystal & Prince, 2019; Barkacs et al., 2015).
If the elements of a contract did exist between these parties, there could still be some possible reasons why a contract might not be valid based on facts not present in the scenario. For example, if Sam was a minor at the time he made the agreement with the chain store, the contract would not be valid because he lacks the capacity (as defined by law) to enter into a legal contract. Another reason for a contract to be invalid is if the terms of the contract entice one or more parties to engage in illegal activity or commit a crime. Yet another reason for a contract to be invalid is if the agreement was made through undue influence, unconscionable conduct, duress, deceptive conduct, or misleading conduct (Barkacs et al., 2015; Mitchell, 2014). Contract Assignment Discussion Paper
A contract can be verbal, written or a combination of both. Regardless of the form that a contract takes, containing the four elements (and lacking all the three factors of legal offer and consideration, capacity, and conduct) makes the contract valid (Barkacs et al., 2015). Within the concepts of contracts, there are quasi-contracts and promissory estoppels. A quasi-contract is defined as a legal obligation that is imposed by the law regardless of an agreement existing between the concerned parties. In this case, a quasi-contract may exist if the following facts are true: a quasi-contract can be drawn by the court if there is a possibility of one party being unjustly enriched with the court intervening to prevent the unjust enrichment. In addition, a quasi-contract can only exist if there is no agreement (contract) between the parties (Barkacs et al., 2015; Mitchell, 2014). A promissory estoppel is defined as a doctrine in contract law that acts in the absence of a legal contract to stop a party from going back on a promise. This principle might apply to this case if there is no legal contract between parties (Barkacs et al., 2015; Mitchell, 2014).
Sam made an offer to provide 1,000 units of the product to the store, although the delivery date was not specified. In turn, the store relied on Sam to provide the product that it would sale. Given that a legal contract does not exist between the two parties, then the agreement between the two parties would be considered a promissory estoppel, stopping either Sam or the store from going back on the promise (Barkacs et al., 2015).
Regardless of whether there was a verbal or written contract between Sam and the landlord, it is undeniable that contract exists between Sam and the landlord owing to the tenant-landlord relationship between the two. That is regardless of whether the contract exists in a verbal or written form. The contract is based on expectations, and the landlord has relied on this contract to post an eviction notice against Sam (Barkacs et al., 2015).
The landlord has legal support for issuing the eviction notice against Sam for breach of contact. Some facts that may support that Sam is in breach of that contract are that Sam turned his rented residence into an industrial space to produce the dog barking device. In addition, his production activities were very noisy and interfered with the other residents (Barkacs et al., 2015).
Sam could bring a suit of breach of contract against the landlord following the eviction notice. Some facts that may support that Sam is not in breach of that contract are that a notice was not issued to allow him correct his actions. In addition, Sam can claim that the landlord is harassing him through demanding that he vacate the premises immediately without prior notice (Barkacs et al., 2015).
The situation between Sam and the landlord can be considered a quasi-contract if there is no agreement between them. In such a case, a legal obligation can be imposed through the court’s intervention if it is deemed that either Sam or the landlord is being unjustly enriched (Barkacs et al., 2015; Poole, 2014).
Based upon the rights and obligations, Sam’s landlord has grounds to evict because Sam is in clear violation of the tenant’s contract because of two reasons. Firstly, the contract was for a residence and yet he is using the premises for industrial activities. Secondly, Sam’s activities are interfering with the other tenants through the noise (Barkacs et al., 2015; Poole, 2014).
Some defenses Sam might raise if his landlord tries to evict him include the eviction is in violation of his rights because the law requires that an eviction notice allow the tenant reasonable time to vacate (Barkacs et al., 2015; Poole, 2014). Contract Assignment Discussion Paper
Conclusion
One must accept that a contract is an expressed (written or spoken) or implied agreement between two or more competent parties, which involves exchanges of monetary value. In addition, one must acknowledge that a contract is valid if it has four elements (offer, acceptance, consideration, and mutuality). The present case shows that Sam had a verbal contract to supply a store with dog-barking devices. This contract was a promissory estoppel since there was a promise between the parties, with the parties relying on the promise, and the only way to avoid an injustice is to enforce the promise. Besides that, Sam had a contract with his landlord. Sam violates the tenant-landlord contract by using his residence for industrial activities, and making noise that interferes with other residents. Still, Sam has protection from immediate eviction since the law offers him a right to have reasonable time to vacate. Overall, it is clear that contracts focus on ensuring that the rights of the parties involved in the agreement are protected even as they engage in mutual exchanges.
References
Barkacs, L., Kubasek, N., Browne, N., Herron, D. & Dhooge, L. (2015). Dynamic business law: the essentials (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Knapp, C., Crystal, N. & Prince, H. (2019). Problems in contract law: cases and materials (9th ed.). New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer.
Mitchell, C. (2014). Contract law and contract practice: bridging the gap between legal reasoning and commercial expectations. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Poole. J. (2014). Textbook on contract law (12th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Contract Assignment Discussion Paper