Exam 3: Formation of a Valid Contract

Sarah is 18 years old.No matter where she lives in Canada she is fully responsible as an adult for any contracts that she makes.

Sue,aged 15,bought an expensive calculator from Biggs and Little Office Supplies to use in school,paying for it in full.She paid the normal price and the calculator works as expected.Sue would now like one with some extra functions.Therefore,she can take back the one she bought and get her money back from Biggs & Little,even though she no longer has the instruction manual that went with it.

Ruth sold her craft shop to Mary.The contract of sale had a clause that said that Ruth could not open a similar store for two years within a three-mile radius. -Ruth opens a craft store one block east of Mary's store six months later and customers start going there instead of to Mary.

Corbin sold his retail clothing business to Austin.The business was located in a small town,and most of the customers lived within a radius of five miles of the clothing shop.As a part of the sale agreement,Corbin agreed not to set up a similar business in competition with Austin for a period of five years or within a radius of five miles of the shop. -If the restrictive covenant was considered to be unreasonable by the court,the restriction would be amended to make it reasonable.

Flavio states that he would like to buy Mike's motorbike for $3,000.Mike responds by saying that he would want $4,000,given the work he has put into it.Flavio says,"OK.I'll give you that.Here's $2,000,and I'll give a promissory note for the balance payable at $500 a month for the next 4 months." i.There is a contract. Ii.There is no contract. Iii.Flavio's first statement to Mike was an invitation to do business. Iv.Mike's response was a counter-offer. V.Flavio's final statement to Mike was an acceptance.

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

Ross's family lives in Ontario.His parents gave him a credit card in his own name for his 14 birthday.For the past 20 months they have always paid the bills for charges made on the card.Last night,Ross's father told him that they were tired of his extravagance and that from now on,he will have to pay any charges himself,including the one that triggered Ross's father's comment to his son.This bill is for $1,200 for a Florida spring break holiday from which Ross has just returned.

Andy offers to sell his car to Bob,but Bob needs to arrange financing,so Andy says he will give Bob three days to do so.Andy can revoke the offer before the three days are up.

Kesler,while in a drunken state,purchased a large sailboat from Mullen. -If on his return to a sober state,and when made aware of the contract,Kesler affirmed it,he could not later avoid the contract on the basis that he was in a drunken state at the time the agreement was made.

Mabel,a young woman aged 17,went shopping.She purchased a new coat on credit at a clothing store.Later the same day,she took her expensive watch to a jewellery shop to have a new watch band installed.While in the shop,she purchased on credit an additional watch for herself,and a silver bracelet as a gift for a friend.When the merchants later requested payment,Mabel refused to pay. -All gifts purchased by minors are non-necessary items,and therefore Mabel is not bound by such a contract.

On June 1 the Mega Marketing Research Firm sent out a mail survey to 5,000 potential customers of Mega's client company.The survey stated that everyone who completed the survey and mailed it back would receive a prize.Mega did not expect everyone to respond to the survey and had only 1,000 prizes on hand for the respondents.On July 14 Sam mailed back his response and eagerly awaited his prize.On July 15 Mega sent out the last prize it had.Sam's response arrived on July 16.It was the 1001st^, and Mega wrote back telling Sam that because all the prizes were gone,he would not be able to have one.

Mary invites some friends to dinner and they accept.They purchase a much more expensive bottle of wine than they would normally drink and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.Mary calls them two hours before the dinner to tell them she has been invited out by the man of her dreams and is postponing the dinner.

Mabel,a young woman aged 17,went shopping.She purchased a new coat on credit at a clothing store.Later the same day,she took her expensive watch to a jewellery shop to have a new watch band installed.While in the shop,she purchased on credit an additional watch for herself,and a silver bracelet as a gift for a friend.When the merchants later requested payment,Mabel refused to pay. -If Mabel accidentally damaged the watch while it was in her possession,the merchant cannot hold her liable for the cost of repair.

Mario responded to an advertisement placed by Serge in a local newspaper.Serge was looking for business investments,and Mario sent him a letter on October 1 that said he was willing to make Serge a partner in his tie-dyed T-shirt business if Serge was willing to put up $5,000.Serge received that letter on October 6 and wrote back the same day saying he would love to get involved in the business and would send Mario a certified cheque for $5,000 as soon as the bank had transferred the money from his savings account and certified the cheque.This letter was received by Mario on October 9,and the certified cheque was sent on October 8 and received on October 12.Meanwhile,Mario mentioned the advertisement to Sonia,and she said she would like to get into the business and would be willing to put up $8,000.Mario sent another letter to Serge,on October 4,which Serge received on October 7,saying Mario had changed his mind and would not be willing to have Serge as a partner. -Discuss whether Mario and Serge have a contract or whether Mario is free to enter into a partnership with Sonia.

Silvia has received an offer from Cam to purchase her touring bicycle for $1500.She emails Cam and accepts this offer.Cam is away from his computer and does not see the acceptance until three days later,by which time he has purchased a different bicycle.Cam had emailed the original offer to Silvia.Included in that email was the requirement that she by email.

As you are walking out of class one night,you discover a notebook,full of equations,belonging to a professor in your school.You write a note telling him who you are and where and when you found it,and you drop the note,in an envelope,into one of the university's internal mailboxes.The next day the campus is covered with notices that say "$100 REWARD.A notebook containing mathematical explanation of the meaning of life has been lost.If found,please return to Professor Doddering in Room A123."

Green,a retailer,placed an advertisement in a local newspaper on May 5 that read: "Special Sale! New 16" portable TV set available for sale to the first 10 customers at my store on May 10 at a sale price of $100 each.Regular Price $199.First come,first served!" Doe was the 10th customer in the store on May 10,but Green refused to sell him a TV set for $100. -If Doe had seen the notice on the shop door on May 9,he could still accept the offer,because the offer was irrevocable.

Mabel,a young woman aged 17,went shopping.She purchased a new coat on credit at a clothing store.Later the same day,she took her expensive watch to a jewellery shop to have a new watch band installed.While in the shop,she purchased on credit an additional watch for herself,and a silver bracelet as a gift for a friend.When the merchants later requested payment,Mabel refused to pay. -If Mabel already has an adequate supply of coats,the coat that she purchased would be a non-necessary item.

Smith met Jones at a street corner and made a verbal offer to buy his canoe for $200.Jones replied that he would "think about it." Smith nodded affirmatively.The two then went about their separate business.Later in the day,Smith met Brown,who also had a canoe for sale,and Smith offered to purchase Brown's canoe for $175.Brown agreed to sell Smith his canoe.At 4 p.m.the same afternoon,after Smith and Brown had made their arrangement,Jones telephoned Smith to say he would accept Smith's offer to buy his canoe. -Smith is not bound in contract with Brown because the prior contract he made with Jones became enforceable when Jones accepted his offer.

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