Exam 13: Contracts in Writing and Third-Party Contracts

Reference - Creaky and Toady. Beverly decides to go on a great trip to Hawaii. She needs someone, however, to take care of her two dogs, Creaky and Toady, while she is gone. Creaky has hives, and Toady passes gas frequently because of a digestive problem. Beverly hires Frank three months in advance and they reach a contractual arrangement whereby he will be paid $200 for keeping the dogs for two weeks. Frank comes over two months before Beverly is set to leave, takes one look at Creaky and Toady, and declares that they are too creepy to be around. Beverly then hires Alice who agrees to care for Creaky and Toady. Two weeks before Beverly is set to leave, however, Alice calls and tells her that she just broke both her legs in an automobile accident, sustained other injuries, and has been put on bed rest for two months. Finally, Alice hires Betty to care for the dogs and heads off to Hawaii where she has a great time. Unfortunately, when Beverly returns home, she finds that Betty fell in love with Creaky and Toady and has absconded with them. It was a month before Beverly was able to get a court order requiring their return. Which of the following is true regarding Frank's refusal to keep Creaky and Toady?

Liquidated damages will be enforced based upon the free-will concept of contracts even if the liquidated damages amount is unreasonable.

Reference - Creaky and Toady. Beverly decides to go on a great trip to Hawaii. She needs someone, however, to take care of her two dogs, Creaky and Toady, while she is gone. Creaky has hives, and Toady passes gas frequently because of a digestive problem. Beverly hires Frank three months in advance and they reach a contractual arrangement whereby he will be paid $200 for keeping the dogs for two weeks. Frank comes over two months before Beverly is set to leave, takes one look at Creaky and Toady, and declares that they are too creepy to be around. Beverly then hires Alice who agrees to care for Creaky and Toady. Two weeks before Beverly is set to leave, however, Alice calls and tells her that she just broke both her legs in an automobile accident, sustained other injuries, and has been put on bed rest for two months. Finally, Alice hires Betty to care for the dogs and heads off to Hawaii where she has a great time. Unfortunately, when Beverly returns home, she finds that Betty fell in love with Creaky and Toady and has absconded with them. It was a month before Beverly was able to get a court order requiring their return. Which of the following would be an order from the court requiring that Betty return Creaky and Toady to Beverly?

Which of the following was the result on appeal in Allstate Insurance Co. v. Herron, the case in the text in which the plaintiff sought a ruling as a matter of law that the defendant materially breached his contract of insurance by actions including confessing to a judgment, thereby relieving the insurer of its obligation to provide coverage?

A contractual condition of satisfaction may be judged by either a[n] ______________ or ______________ standard depending on the issue involved.

Which of the following occurs when a party unjustifiably fails to substantially perform his obligations under the contract?

Set forth the three main situations in which the courts find objective impossibility.

Which of the following are foreseeable damages within the contemplation of the parties at the time the breach occurs and that result from special facts and circumstances arising outside the contract itself?

Why did equitable remedies come into being?

List the ways by which a party's contractual obligations can be terminated.

Reference - Dream Home. Maurice finds a dream home on the lake. He wants to buy it but is unsure whether he can get a loan. He signs a contract with the seller that he will buy the home if he can get a loan. Maurice also includes a contractual clause into the contract with the seller that if the purchase goes through but he loses his job within one year, the seller will repurchase the house for the same price Maurice paid for it. After getting a loan and buying the home, Maurice decided that he wanted new windows put into the home. He entered into a contract with a window contractor. The window contractor visited the home, but Maurice was always gone. The contractor made several attempts to reach Maurice, but Maurice would not return phone calls and made no attempt to assist the contractor with installation. The responsibility of Maurice to make arrangements to give the window installer access to the home is referred to as which of the following?

Reference - Powder Room Mess. For $300,000, Willis agrees to build a new home for Robert, who is very picky. Willis builds the home to Robert's specifications with one exception. The faucets and linoleum flooring in an upstairs powder room are not exactly what Robert specified. That was a mistake on Willis' part, but he had not intentionally failed to follow specifications. When Robert sees the powder room, he goes ballistic and tells Willis that he will not pay Willis anything for the house. It will take $300 to put in correct faucets and linoleum. Willis says that he is willing to pay $300 to put Robert in the position he would have been in had the correct faucets and linoleum been used, but that is all he is willing to pay. Which of the following is true regarding whether Willis breached the contract?

______________ is the termination of the contract, and ______________ is the return of any property given up under the contract.

College president Wally contracts with Alice to teach business law. Alice does a fine job teaching but gets mad at Wally and will not turn in grades. What type of order would Wally seek to require Alice to abide by her contract?

Rewriting a contract to reflect what the parties had agreed on is referred to as rescission.

If a contract does not clearly specify that the satisfaction is to be personal, the ______________ standard applies.

Which of the following arose from cases in England in which parties, who had contracted for rooms along a parade route for the king's coronation, received their money back when the coronation was canceled because the king became ill?

The most frequently awarded damages are compensatory damages.

When no actual damages result from the breach of a contract, the court may award the plaintiff ______________ damages.

Under ordinary circumstances, a party's duty to perform the promise agreed to in a contract is absolute.