Exam 11: Agreement

The communication of an offer must be by mail or in person.

Jane offers to sell Kyle three desks for his Lights & Lamps Company administrative office. Kyle sends a rejec?tion first, then changes his mind and sends an acceptance. Whether they have a contract is determined by

Under the mailbox rule, an acceptance is not valid until it is received.

Geof owns two cars. He offers to sell the Honda for $20,000 to Ilsa, who says, "I'll pay no more than $15,000." Geof offers to sell the Jeep for $20,000 to Kiki, but before Kiki responds, Geof says, "Forget it. I changed my mind." Geof's offer was terminated by

Jill tells Ken, who has no knowledge of literary comedy, that she will tutor him in the subject for $50. As an offer, this is

Myra owns a house, which she advertises for sale for $400,000. On May 1, Nico offers Myra $380,000 for the house. On May 5, Myra has delivered to Nico at his office a form that includes additional terms but does not state a price. At 9 a.m. on May 6, Nico signs the form and gives it to Odell, his administrative assistant, with instructions to mail it. At 10 a.m., Myra calls to tell Nico that the deal is off. The next day, Odell mails the signed form to Myra. When she refuses to sell the house to Nico, he files a suit against her, alleging breach of contract. Myra claims that there was no contract. What are arguments supporting each party's position? What is the court likely to rule? Explain.

Rejection of an offer terminates it.

A counteroffer does not terminate but continues an offer.

If no time for acceptance is specified in an offer, the offer terminates at the end of a reasonable time.

Revocation normally must be communicated to the offeree before accep?tance or else it will be ineffective.

An acceptance is sufficient to evidence an agreement.

Dora, an architect, markets her services through Eagle Designs, an ar?chitectural firm. For all intents and purposes, Dora is the firm. She of?fers to design a store for Fine Stores Corporation for $10,000. Before Fine ac?cepts, Dora dies. Fine's officers do not learn of the death until after they accept. What is the status of the offer?

Quick Transport, Inc., offers to sell a truckload of palettes to Rapid Delivery Company. Before accepting the offer, Rapid learns that the palettes have been sold to Speedy Trucking Corporation. Quick is

A contractor's submis?sion of a bid on a construction project is an acceptance.

Eve tells Frank that she would like to buy his Great Goodies store. Frank declines, but later decides to sell and sends to Eve, and others, a flyer describing the de?tails. Eve responds with a letter of "acceptance." Eve and Frank have

An agreement to agree may be enforceable.

On May 1, Brand Name Industries, Inc. (BNI), sent Carol a letter, via overnight delivery, offering to employ her to audit BNI's financial state?ments for the current year for $1,000. In the letter, BNI stated that Carol had ten days to accept. On May 5, Carol sent BNI a fax that stated, "The price for the audit seems too low. Would you consider paying $1,200?" BNI received the fax. The next day, Dan offered to conduct the audit for $800. On learning of Dan's offer, Carol immediately e-mailed BNI, agree?ing to do the work for $1,000. BNI received this e-mail on May 7. Explain why BNI and Carol do, or do not, have a contract.

May tries to start her new car with no success. She yells that she will sell the car to anyone for $10. Nick, a passerby who owns Nick's Pre-owned Autos, hands May $10. This is

An offer that a statute makes illegal terminates only af?ter a rea?sonable time.

The communication of an offer can be done by any effective means.