Exam 12: Reality of Assent

Any fraud on the part of a party to a contract provides a basis for ________.

Nondisclosure involves the active hiding of the truth about a material fact pertaining to a contract.

Which of the following are elements of fraudulent misrepresentation?

With negligent misrepresentation,even though there was no actual intent to deceive,the party making the false statement is treated in contract law as if the intent were present.

Shady lawyer.Brice had a number of ethical issues come up in law school involving alleged cheating but managed to graduate because nothing was ever proven.Upon obtaining his law license,Brice enjoyed living "on the edge" and engaged in tactics that were at least questionable.One of his clients was an older gentleman,Sam,with significant assets and significant legal issues involving a messy divorce stemming from his involvement with a local dog groomer,Susie.Brice told Sam that he felt certain that he could arrange matters so that Sam could live happily in the Caribbean with Susie but that,in addition to paying a hefty legal fee,Sam would need to name Brice as a significant beneficiary in his will and give Brice power of attorney over his assets.Sam agreed to do so.He gave Brice power of attorney and changed his will to reflect that upon his death,Brice would receive half his estate.The other half went to Susie.Sam also paid the hefty legal fee Brice demanded.At that point,Brice agreed to proceed with negotiations in the divorce.Shortly after the divorce,Sam had an unexpected heart attack and died immediately.Susie,the executor of the will,told Brice that she was reporting him to the state bar association and that he was not entitled to any assets from the estate.Brice told Susie that he knew that Susie had failed to pay income tax for all her dog grooming and that he was reporting her unless she kept her mouth shut and consented to the terms of the contract.Brice also said that in return for keeping his mouth shut,he wanted additional sums purportedly for his work on Sam's divorce.Assuming that Sam had paid all amounts validly due from the divorce proceeding,which of the following is true regarding Brice's attempt to obtain additional fees?

Which of the following is/are available to a party who was misled by a false statement contained in an innocent misrepresentation?

European courts permit contract rescission for a mistake of value when the mistake involves more than 50 percent of the value at the time of the contract.

List the three reasons referenced in the textbook that would permit a court to invalidate a contract on the basis of unilateral mistake.

Which of the following must a mutual mistake involve in order for a mutual mistake to interfere with legal consent?

Fraudulent misrepresentation is intentional misrepresentation.

Distinguishing between unilateral and mutual mistakes is important because the classification bears on which contracts ________.

Today,nondisclosure is especially likely to provide the basis for rescission when one party has information about a basic assumption of the deal that is unavailable to the other party.

Pet Pig Farm.Marcy wanted to buy Lucy's land and use it to breed small pigs to be kept as pets.Marcy told Lucy that having water on the property was very important.Lucy assured her that a spring ran through one corner of the property.Therefore,Marcy agreed to buy the farm.Although she did not ask Lucy anything about it,Marcy,who loved pigs,assumed that the neighbors would be pleased with the pigs being in the area.In a separate contract,Lucy also agreed to sell Marcy a used truck for $5,000.After the contract for the land sale was entered into,it was discovered that actually the spring did not run through the corner of Lucy's property.The area in which the spring ran actually belonged to a neighbor.Additionally,when Lucy brought Marcy the used truck,Marcy said,"That's not the truck!" It was discovered that Lucy,who had two trucks,thought that Marcy had bought the older truck when Marcy thought she had purchased the newer truck.Marcy was also surprised when she received a petition signed by all surrounding landowners objecting to the presence of the pigs and threatening to sue Marcy for nuisance.Assuming that Lucy innocently made a misrepresentation regarding the spring running through the corner of the farm with no reason to believe that was not correct,considering only the lack of a spring issue,which of the following is true if Marcy does not want to go through with the sale of the farm?

A relationship in which one party has an unusual degree of ________ in the other can trigger concern about undue influence in gaining the assent of the more dependent party.

When a contract is voidable,it may be rescinded.

A false statement about a fact material to an agreement that the person making the statement believed to be true is considered a(n)________.

What was the result in Scott v.Mid-Carolina Homes,Inc.,the case referenced in the textbook in which the defendant attempted to rescind a contract to sell a mobile home because its salesperson was acting under a mistake of fact when he gave the plaintiff the sales price?

Scheming Friends.Willy very much wants to rent a basement apartment in Weaver's home.Willy threatens to tell all Weaver's friends that he and Weaver had been arrested for illegally smoking marijuana unless Weaver rents the apartment to him for $100 per month.Weaver reluctantly agrees to rent the apartment to Willy for that amount.Willy also wants to buy Weaver's car.Weaver runs back the odometer on the car before Willy test-drives it.Willy is impressed by the low mileage and agrees to buy the car.Finally,Weaver offers to sell Willy a ring for Willy's fiancée.Weaver tells Willy that the ring is a diamond and believes that to be true.After the deal is made,however,a jeweler friend of Weaver's informs him that the ring is a fake.When Willy shows up with the money,Weaver says nothing.He just hands Willy the ring and takes the money.Later,Willy finds out that the odometer was run backwards from another friend to whom Weaver confided.Willy also finds out from his girlfriend that the ring is a fake.Which of the following would be the most likely result if Weaver attempts to rescind the agreement to rent the apartment?

When both parties to a contract are mistaken about either a current or a past material fact,either party can choose to rescind the contract.

In Indian Law,duress is referred to as ________.