Exam 7: Contract Formation

Bruno owns a French poodle that he advertises for sale. The dog has a history of viciously biting three neighborhood kids without provocation, as well as one of Bruno's kids. Marge is looking for a dog to be a playmate for her children. When she comes to Bruno's house to see the dog, she sees it playing with Bruno's kids and doesn't ask about the dog's past behavior. She tells Bruno that she's looking for a dog for her kids, and Bruno says nothing. Five minutes after the dog enters her house, it bites one of Marge's kids.

If you give a truthful answer to a question during contract negotiations, but something then happens that makes that answer now false, you are not obligated to notify the other party unless he or she asks the question again.

Tina's dog has run away. She places reward posters throughout the neighborhood and places an ad in the local newspaper. Ted, her good friend, sees Tina's dog wandering and takes the dog back to Tina's house without ever seeing a poster or the newspaper advertisement. After he leaves her home, he then sees a reward poster. If he returns and demands the reward, is Tina obligated to pay?

Wilma has a valid driver's license but has a tendency to get speeding tickets. Fred tells her that he will pay her $1,000 if she does not get a ticket for one year. Wilma drives very cautiously and goes through one year without a ticket. Is Fred obligated to pay?

In Lucy v. Zehmer, the two parties were drinking in a bar when Lucy offers to buy Zehmer's farm. After some negotiation a written contract was executed. Zehmer claimed that the whole episode was only a joke and he never intended to sell the farm. The court determined that:

A contract that is so blatantly unfair that it shocks the objective conscience would be rendered unenforceable and subject to the defense of _______.

The mailbox rule provides that the acceptance of an offer is generally effective upon receipt of the acceptance when sent in a commercially reasonable manner.

Which of the following is not required for promissory estoppel to apply?

In Harley-Davidson Motor Co. v. PowerSports Inc., the court permitted PowerSports to retain its Harley-Davidson franchise because PowerSports' decision to become a publicly owned corporation had nothing to do with its commitment to sales and service and thus was deemed not material to the negotiations, so no fraud occurred.

Ike has orally agreed to paint Tina's portrait. The oral agreement is for the portrait to be completed in nine months. Even if the portrait actually takes 13 months to complete, the agreement will be enforceable.

Josh is negotiating the sale of his car with Jonathan. Jonathan asks if the car has ever been in an accident, and Josh replies, "No, it has never been in an accident." In fact, the car was nearly totaled the year before when Sheila, Josh's girlfriend, was driving Josh's car, hit a wet spot, and skidded into a pole. She had the car repaired without telling him about the accident. Josh has committed:

Big Time Appliance advertised 46-inch plasma TVs for $10 to the first 50 buyers on Friday. This ad is:

With regard to the court, adequacy of consideration means:

Bill has voluntarily organized office birthday parties for the past 10 years because he enjoys making people happy. One day, Brenda, his boss, tells him that he's been doing such a great job that she's going to pay him an extra $200 next month. However, when Bill gets his check, it's the same amount that it has always been. Which of the following is correct?

Franz asks Josef if he will paint his office building for $1,000. Josef says he will do the job for $2,000. Josef's response is:

To be valid, offers must meet all of the following criteria except:

Amanda, a recent university graduate, needed a car to get to her new job. To help Amanda secure a loan for the car, Ted, a friend, agreed to pay the loan should Amanda default. Ted's promise is enforceable as long as he goes to the bank, declares his promise to guarantee Amanda's loan in front of witnesses, and shakes hands on the deal, giving his word.

Uncle Buck has lent you $10,000 for tuition and living expenses. The agreement was oral. This contract violates the statute of frauds, so it is unenforceable and you need not repay the loan.

An agreement to purchase $499 worth of land does not have to be in writing to be enforceable.

Use of unfair coercion to force a party into a contract constitutes _______.