Exam 8: The Requirement of Consideration

Zena decided not to honour the pledge form she had filled out for a local charity.Since her pledge was in writing and signed by her,it is enforceable by the charity.

While Marion was on extended holiday,her property became overgrown,principally with noxious weeds.Her municipality wrote to her home address threatening a $500 fine and the attendance of a municipal crew to control the problem with a further fee of $350.Marion's neighbour,George,who was tending her mail,read the notice and telephoned her and told her he would see to the cleanup job.In time,he forgot to do so,and the municipality performed the work,leaving a bill for Marion of $850.Upon Marion's return she was enraged at George's failure,and sued him in Small Claims Court for the $850.

Ted rented a store in a mall owned by Oscar.During the two busiest months of the year,renovations to the stores on either side of Ted's caused him to lose a great deal of money.A clause in the commercial lease for the store says that the mall owner is not liable for any losses caused by repairs or renovations,but Oscar agreed to allow Ted to pay only two-thirds of his rent for the following six months because Ted was now in financial difficulties since he had not made the profits he relied on to carry him through the slow period.Three months later,Oscar lost a lot of money speculating in the commodities market and he told Ted that he needed Ted to revert to paying the full amount of the rent under the lease.Ted objected,having put all the money he would have used to pay the rent in full into an advertising campaign to try to make up his losses.Oscar got angry and demanded that Ted pay the back rent also.Ted will go bankrupt if he has to do this and he comes to you to ask if he must do it.What will you tell Ted about Oscar's rights and what Ted can do about the situation?

A party who endorses a bill of exchange (e.g.,a cheque)to enable another to negotiate it may not be held liable on the bill,even though no consideration was given as a result of the endorsement.

Jackson Excavation Ltd.provides services to contractors by supplying heavy machinery and operators for excavation and various types of fill for building lots.Jackson managed to obtain for the first time a contract with a prominent residential builder for work on a 10-home development.The value of the work and fill was $60 000 and this was agreed upon as the contract price.After the work was completed and the invoice sent,Jackson learned that the builder had just been granted approval for a 50-home subdivision.Hoping to secure the excavation work for this project as well,Jackson immediately sent a letter to the builder stating that it would accept $50 000 as payment in full for the job just completed.He also mentioned in the letter that he hoped they would continue to do business together What legal problems does this situation present and how might the parties solve them?

Save-A-Lot Food Stores Limited regularly purchased large quantities of raisins for its bulk food section from a Canadian food wholesaler.The purchase of raisins was carried out with a separate purchase order and invoice each time although a full,written contract had been executed between the parties governing the relationship in its entirety.One of the terms of the contract specified that for individual orders in excess of 100 kg,a quantity discount of 15% would be applied to the purchase price.Since these were very favourable terms,Save-a-Lot regularly ordered quantities ranging between 500-700 kg of raisins to adequately supply all of its stores.After it had been purchasing raisins for over a year,Save-A-Lot received a note attached to its most recent invoice informing it that the contract was in error.The wholesaler's policy was that only purchases in excess of 1000 kg were entitled to the quantity discount of 15%.The invoice showed the full amount owing for the most recent purchase of 650 kg with no discount applied and also a cumulative amount equal to the 15% discount which had been granted to Save-A-Lot on all previous orders.Save-A-Lot refused to pay the extra amount Discuss the arguments which may be raised by the parties and render a decision.

Simon is told by his lawyer that a particular document must be signed under seal.When Simon questions whether that isn't cruelty to animals,his lawyer explains that this is simply a process by which a written document can be made binding even if there is no consideration present.

Mary Jo relied upon a promise made to her by David.As a result of David's failure to fulfill the promise,Mary Jo has incurred expenses for which she cannot now be compensated.She tells you that she wants to sue David and make him live up to his promise.You would be right if you told her that she would have a better chance of succeeding if she were in the United States.

X owed Y a debt in the amount of $1,000.The debt was payable on June 1^st.If X offered the $900 on the day before the due date,and Y accepted the money as payment in full,at Common Law,he could not later demand the remaining $100.

Mr.Megabucks promises the Turtle Preservation Society of Victoria that he will give it $500,000,provided it names after him the new headquarters building it wants to erect.The President of the Society tells him that his generous donation will allow them to carry on their turtle preservation work while getting decent working conditions for their staff and,at a ground-breaking ceremony soon after,the announcement is made that the building will be named after Mr.Megabucks.Four months later,Mr.Megabucks suffers severe business reversals and decides to withdraw his promise.

Anderson,a city employee,collected garbage along Smyth's street on Thursday of each week.One day Smyth said to Anderson: "You have done such a good job; I will give you $10 when you come by next week." The next week,when Anderson made his regular garbage pickup for the city,he met Smyth and asked for the $10.Smyth refused to pay.Is Smyth legally required to pay the $10?

Jones Construction asks for bids for subcontracts on a building it is to construct.The successful bid will be an acceptance of Jones' offer.

Your car breaks down and you are stranded on a highway.You call a tow truck which takes your car to a garage and replaces a faulty part.You do not have enough cash to pay,so you give the owner your address to send the bill for towing and repairs,and venture on your way.When the bill arrives,you find the prices are high.After consulting another garage your suspicions are confirmed.The mechanic sends you a notice threatening legal action and you decide to defend it using certain legal principles.What principles will you use for your defence,and what will be the probable outcome?

Rita and her mother visit the bank as Rita wants to borrow money for a car.Her mother will be her guarantor.The banker fills out the loan form and the guarantee form,but has only one gummed seal.Considering what might be the most prudent place to put the seal,the banker affixes the seal on the guarantee to be signed by Rita's mother.One seal is enough,this was the correct choice of place to put it,and the bank is fully protected.

Jane agreed to look after Colin's dog in February if he would look after her cat in May.In May,Colin refused to look after Jane's cat.Did Colin breach a contract?

X owed Y a debt in the amount of $1,000.The debt was payable on June 1^st.In Ontario,and in Western Canada under statute law,if Y accepted the lesser sum as payment in full on the due date,he would not be entitled to collect the remaining $100.

Under the Civil Code of Quebec,a contract ___________________ consideration to be enforceable.

X owed Y a debt in the amount of $1,000.The debt was payable on June 1^st.If Z,a friend of X,paid $900 to Y as payment in full of the debt owed by X,and Y accepted the sum,Y could not later demand the remaining $100 from X.

Jane looked after Colin's dog in February.In May,Jane went away and asked Colin to look after her cat.Colin refused.Did Colin breach a contract?

Susan offered to pay $500 for a ring that Daria has agreed to sell to her.Each woman has given consideration to the other for her promise.