BLAW Chapter 10

Leonard offers to sell his diamond ring to Emily. Diane overhears the offer and says, "I accept the offer."

Diane cannot accept the offer, because it wasn't made to her.

Elmer wrote a letter to his friend Fred offering to sell Fred an 80-acre farm for $200,000. After mailing the letter, Elmer learns that the farm is actually worth $300,000 and changes his mind about selling.

Elmer can revoke his offer at any time before acceptance, because there is no consideration to keep the offer open.

In general, an acceptance is effective upon dispatch.

True

On June 1, a civic club made an offer of $500 to a beer distributor to have ten kegs delivered to the city park for a July 4th fund-raising event. On June 30, the city passed a new law prohibiting consumption of alcohol in the city park. The civic club's offer is terminated on June 30.

True

On Tuesday morning John sends a letter to Arlene rejecting her offer, but later the same day John changes his mind and sends a letter of acceptance to Arlene. The letter of acceptance will be effective only if it is received by Arlene before she receives the rejection.

True

The Code's firm offer rule applies only to offers in writing that are made by a merchant offeror.

True

When a bid is made at an auction, it can be revoked if the auctioneer has not yet accepted the bid because the auctioneer has the power of acceptance.

True

When does acceptance of an offer to enter into a unilateral contract generally occur?

Upon full performance by the offeree with the intention of accepting.

The way parties usually show mutual assent is by:

an offer by words or conduct and an acceptance by words or conduct.

Gail sent a letter of acceptance to an offer that has expired. Gail has made:

an offer.

Under the UCC, an acceptance must always be identical to an offer for a valid contract to be formed.

False

An advertisement is usually an offer to sell.

False

An auctioneer is free to withdraw the goods from sale if the sale is advertised or announced in explicit terms to be without reserve.

False

An auctioneer is the offeror and each bid is a counteroffer until a final bid is accepted.

False

An implied contract is not an enforceable contract.

False

An offer is an indefinite proposal made by one person to another.

False

An offer is effective as soon as it is dispatched.

False

An offer must be in one particular form to have legal effect.

False

George offered to paint Catherine's barn for $4,000. Catherine said she would accept the offer if George would paint the woodshed, too. At this point, they have made a valid and enforceable contract.

False

Hugh recently purchased a motorcycle for $4,000 but has had extensive problems starting the motor. In disgust at not being able to start the motorcycle, Hugh shouts to his friends, "Any of you want to buy this thing for $20?" A contract will be formed if a friend gives Hugh a twenty-dollar bill.

False

If Bill tells Sara that he will give her two days to decide if she wants to buy his car, he cannot sell it to anyone else during that time.

False

If Thomas seemingly offers to sell to Raquel his Toro lawnmower but he intends to offer and believes he is offering her his Murray mower, and she accepts the offer, reasonably believing it was for the Toro, no contract has been formed because there is no mutual assent.

False

If an offer states that a reply must be received by a certain date, the contract is formed at the time the offeree sends or dispatches the acceptance.

False

If no time limit is stated, an offer will not terminate until both parties agree.

False

In an output contract, the seller can operate a factory on a 24-hour-a-day schedule and insist that the buyer take all of the output when that buyer had operated only eight hours a day at the time the contract was made and the buyer had knowledge of the eight-hour-a-day operating schedule.

False

In order for an offer to end by lapse of time, the offeror must specify the time within which the offer is to be accepted.

False

Ricardo posts a sign in the neighborhood offering $50 for the return of his Saint Bernard. Alicia, who knows nothing of the reward, finds the dog and returns it to Ricardo. Alicia is entitled to the reward.

False

Ron offers to sell Pete his stamp collection. Pete gives Ron $10 to induce him to keep his offer open for a week. If Ron decides on day four of the week that he really does not want to sell to Pete, he can revoke his offer without fear of a breach of contract lawsuit being filed against him.

False

Silence can never be an acceptance.

False

The UCC and the Restatement make no provision for supplying terms omitted by the parties' contract.

False

The common law "mirror image" rule applies to an offer and the acceptance of that offer in a contract for the sale of goods.

False

The law applies a subjective standard of intent in determining whether there was the requisite intent to enter into a contract.

False

There is no necessity to distinguish language which constitutes an offer from that which merely solicits or invites offers.

False

Which of the following would most probably be considered a valid offer?

"$100 reward for return of lost white-gold, men's wedding band inscribed with initials 'TEA' to Tony Adams, 350 Main Street, Peoria."

The person to whom an offer is made is an offeree.

True

The UCC provides that a merchant is bound to keep a written offer open for a stated period but no longer than:

three months.

Which of the following would NOT be a merchant under Article 2 of the UCC?

A person who inherits three speedboats and wants to sell them to buy a car

If there is no time specified for the acceptance of an offer, when does the offer terminate?

After a reasonable period of time

Albert read Gem City's ad in the local newspaper advertising a one-quarter carat diamond ring for $89. Albert rushed to the store to buy the ring only to be told by the salesperson that the ad was a misprint and the price should have been $289. Albert gave the salesperson $89 plus sales tax and demanded the ring.

Albert is merely making an offer to Gem City to buy the ring for $89 plus sales tax.

In general, which of the following will not terminate an offer?

An inquiry by the offeree as to size or materials

Bart sends Carla an offer by express mail. Carla receives it at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Carla delivers an acceptance to Federal Express, but due to an error, the letter is not sent out by the company until Wednesday at 8 a.m. At what time does the law consider the acceptance to be effective?

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday

The case in which the court held that a newspaper advertisement was an offer because it contained a promise of performance in definite terms in return for a requested act was:

Lefkowitz v. Great Minneapolis Surplus Store, Inc.

Maxine offered to sell her video camera to Tom for $200 and also stated to Tom, "I will give you two weeks to accept my offer." One week later Tom learned that Maxine had sold the video camera to Cindy.

Maxine has revoked her offer to Tom.

Chad has offered to take Miles into his accounting firm as a partner upon payment of $5,000 cash. In response, Miles says, "I'll give you $3,000 cash now and I will pay you the remainder in two months after I see whether things are working out as a partnership."

Miles has made a counteroffer; hence there is no contract.

The Rogers family has always wanted to buy the beautiful house at the top of the hill. The owners of the house, the Thompsons, decided to sell and called Mr. Rogers. Before he could get back in touch with Mr. Thompson, Mr. Rogers suffered a heart attack and died. Mr. Rogers' adult daughter, to whom the Thompsons had not spoken, still wants the house.

She may not accept since the offer is terminated.

Michelle's Boutique places an ad in the Sunday paper for beautiful, top-of-the-line designer suits for $3.00. Irene sees the ad in the paper and goes to the store to stock up on business suits for her new job. Michelle apologizes for the misprint. Irene has just finished a class in contract law and insists that the store sell her 5 suits for $15.00. Irene threatens to sue Michelle for breach of contract.

The ad in the newspaper is a solicitation seeking offers, but is not an offer to sell; therefore, Irene will not be able to successfully sue for breach of contract.

Marilyn read an ad in the school newspaper offering a thousand dollar swimming scholarship to anyone who could swim 500 laps in the school pool. Marilyn called the advertiser and began swimming. She has reached lap number 460; she feels great and is sure she can make it all the way.

The advertiser must permit Marilyn the opportunity to finish her attempt to swim the 500 laps, or pay damages if he interferes with the completion of the laps.

Elvis makes an offer to Miguel, but before Miguel can accept, the state supreme court decides a case that makes the offer illegal. What is the effect of the court decision on the offer?

The court decision automatically terminates the offer.

Shirley hears about a reward being offered by the local television station for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a local rapist. She supplies the requested information, and the suspect is then arrested and convicted.

The offer by the television station was an offer made to the general public to enter into a unilateral contract, which offer Shirley has accepted.

Destruction of the subject matter has what effect on the offer?

The offer is terminated.

For an offer to be valid, which of the following elements must be present?

The offeree must have knowledge of the offer.

Jesse makes an offer to Ike, and Ike accepts; then the state legislature passes a law that makes performance of the contract illegal. What is the effect of the new statute on the contract?

The statute discharges the obligations of both parties under the contract.

Jack has been in the business of selling carpeting for 20 years. He calls Bob, who is opening another branch of his furniture stores, and offers to sell him 100 yards of carpet at $20 per yard. Bob agrees and sends back the following letter confirming the deal: Dear Jack: As we discussed on the phone January 3, we accept your offer of 100 yards of Saxony "heather blue" carpeting at the price of $20 per yard. We also reserve the right to purchase any additional yardage we need to carpet our other showroom facilities at the same rate for one year from that date. Very truly yours, Bob Which of the following is true?

There is a contract for only 100 yards of carpeting.

Alice offers to sell her computer, monitor, and printer to Bradley for $300. Bradley says he will accept provided that Alice includes her word processing software. What is the status of their discussions?

There is no contract, because Bradley has made a counteroffer.

Assume an offeree mails a rejection to the offeror on November 1. This rejection arrives at the offeror's place of business on November 5. In the meantime, on November 4, the offeree sends the offeror an acceptance that arrives November 6. Which of the following statements correctly describes the situation?

There was no contract because when an acceptance follows a prior rejection, the first communication to be received by the offeror is the effective one.

James offers to sell four acres of land to Jennifer for $8,000 and further offers to keep the offer open for one month if Jennifer will pay him $100 for the privilege. Jennifer pays James $100. Which statement describes the payment of $100?

This is an option contract.

A contract exists when an offer has been accepted.

True

A valid offer may be in the form of an act for a promise, which is an offer to enter into an inverted unilateral contract.

True

An offer can be communicated by words or by conduct.

True

An offer must be communicated to the offeree in order for the offer to be effective.

True

Both the Code and the Restatement provide that an authorized means of accepting an offer is any reasonable means of communication.

True

Commercial reasonableness is a standard determined in terms of the business judgment of reasonable persons familiar with the practices customary in the type of transaction involved.

True

Contract law generally places more importance on the intent of the parties to form a contract than on the inclusion of certain terms in the contract.

True

Death or insanity of either the offeror or the offeree ordinarily terminates the offer.

True

If an offeror makes an offer to an offeree by letter and it is lost in the mail, no legally sufficient offer has been made.

True

If the offer specifies it MUST be accepted by telegram, a letter will not be a valid means of acceptance.

True

Gary mails an offer to Brian on June 15. Brian receives the offer on June 16. Gary mails a revocation of the offer on June 17. Brian mails a letter of acceptance on June 18 and Gary receives the acceptance on June 20. Brian receives the revocation on June 19. Was a contract formed?

Yes, on June 18

Wes, who is an art collector, offered to buy a print from Le Monde Gallery. Le Monde balked at the price, sending Wes a letter of rejection. That day it discovered that the print was not as highly valued as originally thought. Le Monde immediately telephoned Wes to accept his offer. Is there a contract?

Yes, since the acceptance was received before the rejection

Lynn offers to sell his house to Dennis for $95,000. Dennis responds, "I will pay you $95,000 if you will paint the second floor." This response could best be described as:

a counteroffer.

An agreement of a seller to supply a buyer with all of the buyer's requirements for certain goods is known as:

a requirements contract.

Which is an irrevocable offer?

a. A bid to construct a bridge for the city b. An offer to buy stock in the ABC Corporation once it is formed c. A unilateral offer to pay John $30 to mow your lawn at the point that he has completed half the job and indicates he wishes to finish d. All of the above.

Which of the following is correct with regard to counteroffers?

a. A counteroffer operates as a rejection of the original offer. b. A conditional acceptance is a common type of counteroffer. c. The receipt of a counteroffer terminates the original offer. d. All of the above are correct.

Which of the following would most likely be a merchant with respect to the goods in question under the UCC definition?

a. Amy is an authorized IBM computer dealer. b. Brian employs two salesmen to sell his homemade furniture. c. Clarence has a store in which he sells used lawn mowers. d. All of the above would be merchants.

The UCC Battle of the Forms rule:

a. changes the mirror image rule. b. may yield different results depending on whether the parties are merchants. c. may result in formation of a contract different from the terms of the offer. d. All of the above.

Under the common law, the ____ must be the mirror image of the ____.

acceptance, offer

If an offer requires acceptance by mail and the offeree faxes acceptance:

b. there is a contract if the acceptance is actually received within the time the authorized means would have arrived. c. under the Restatement, if the acceptance is received within the time the authorized means would have arrived, the acceptance is effective when sent. Both (b) and (c) are correct.

An offer need not take any particular form to have legal validity. To be effective, however, it must:

be communicated to the offeree.

An offer under Article 2 of the UCC that is irrevocable even though no consideration is given to keep it open is known as a(n):

firm offer.

An ad in a newspaper or a circular describing goods and stating prices would generally be considered a(n):

invitation to buyers to make an offer to buy goods.

In order to form a contract, the parties must:

manifest their agreement objectively.

To be effective, notice of revocation of an offer:

may be communicated indirectly to the offeree through a third person.

A ____ is an offeree's refusal to accept an offer.

rejection

Hannah, as a joke, offers to sell her violin to Mike. Her statement would have legal effect if:

the intended jest is so successful that Mike as a reasonable person under the circumstances believes the joke is an offer and he accepts.