Ch. 17

Front 1

validity of oral contracts: oral or written?

Back 1

if there is not a statute requiring writing, contract can be oral or written

Front 2

statute of fraud

Back 2

statute that in order to prevent fraud, requires certain types of contracts to be written in order to be enforceable or binding

Front 3

agreement that can't be performed within a year after the contract is made

Back 3

it has to be in writing in order to be enforceable according to the statute of frauds

when no specific time is set and can be completed within one year, statute of frauds does no apply to the oral agreement

Front 4

oral extension of contract

Back 4

a written contract may have an oral extention

but must be proved by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence

Front 5

agreement to sell or a sale of an interest in land

Back 5

all contracts to sell land, buildings or interest in land like mortgages must be in writing

under part performance, an oral contract of the sale of land is enforceable if the buyer bought in an oral contract and made inprovements

Front 6

suretyship

Back 6

when a third person promises to pay someones debt

collateral or secondary promise: third person pays someones debt only when he does not pay. this promise must be in writing

Front 7

Hoe must suretyship be: oral or written?

Back 7

suretyship must be in writing to be enforceable

Front 8

exception for written suretyship

Back 8

when someone promise to pay another's debt just to benefit himself, the oral agreement is binding

Front 9

personal representative

Back 9

administrator or executor who handles the deceased person's affairs.

if offers to pay with own money, needs a writing contract to be enforceable

Front 10

executor, executrix

Back 10

person named in will to administer the estate of the decedent

Front 11

administrator, administratix

Back 11

person who winds up and settle the estate of a person who died without a will

Front 12

decedent

Back 12

person whose estate is being administered

Front 13

promise made in consideration of marriage

Back 13

promise to pay money or give property to another under consideration of marriage has to be in writing

Front 14

When sale of goods has to be in writing?

Back 14

contracts to sell goods at $500 or more should be in writing

Front 15

promissory estoppel

Back 15

statute of frauds may be circumvented when one party rpoves an enhanced promissory estoppel

an enhanced level of reasonable reliance is necesarry in order to have enhanced promissory estoppel, along with proof of unconscionable injury or unjust enrichment

Front 16

note of memorandum

Back 16

a note or memorandum signed by both parties is needed to evidence those contracts that come within its scope

Front 17

signing

Back 17

the note or memorandum must be signed by the party that seeks to be bound by the contract

could be signature, or sign adopted as signature, or initials or a mark

Front 18

content

Back 18

note or memorandum must have all the information regarding the contract

if something is missing, its not sufficient

subject matter must be identified in the note or in other writing that is referring to

Front 19

effect of noncompliance

Back 19

if the contract doesn't compy with the statutory of frauds, its not enforceable

Front 20

recovery of value conferred

Back 20

if a person is not allowed to enforce a contract, has the right to recover the value of services of property given under the oral contract

recovery is under quasi-contractual obligation

Front 21

who may arise defense of noncompliance

Back 21

only the parties that are part of the contract can say is not binding bcause its an oral contract that does not satisfy the statute of frauds

third parties like insurance company and IRS can't claim contract is void

Front 22

parol evidence rule

Back 22

rule that eliminates the oral agreements and written statments made before or during the writing of the contract.

if it was important enough during the oral agreement, it should be written in the contract

this helps to prevent fraud

Front 23

ambiguity

Back 23

the contract has more than one reasonable interpretation and its not clear what the intentions of the parties is, therefore the parol evidence rule does not apply and can be used former evidence to be able to interpret the contract

Front 24

fraud, duress or mistake

Back 24

parol evidence rule does not apply if the contract seems complete but has a provision omitted.

the evidence will be used to demostrate the omission was due to fradu, duress or msitake

Front 25

modification of contract

Back 25

parol evidence rule prohibits the contradiction of the complete written contract, but not the proof thay the contract was modified or terminated

Front 26

intention of parties

Back 26

when parties enter a contract, its pressumed they want the agreement to have some effect

court cant rewrite contract to be able to interpret it, but in the abscence of proof a word has a particular meaning, court will use its ordinary meaning

Front 27

meaning of words

Back 27

the interpretation will follow the common meaning of the words even if they have several meanings in the dictionary

Front 28

incorporation by reference

Back 28

contract consisting of two documents: the original contract and the detailed statement that specifies things to be done in the contract

Front 29

whole contract

Back 29

every part of the contract makes a whole, so everthing is important

if the plain language of the contract can be interpreted, no further analysis is needed

Front 30

contradictory and ambigous terms

Back 30

when terms of a contract conflict with each other or have contradictory meaningss

court has to decide what the contract really means

ambigous: term of the contract if has more than one reasonable interpretation

with help of evidence the court have to decide which side is correct

Front 31

nature of writing

Back 31

when a contract is half typed and half written, the part written rules

if its a form already written and has being filed with more information, the extra information prevails

Front 32

strict construction against drafting party

Back 32

an ambiguous contract is interpreted stricly against the party who drafted it

Front 33

implied terms

Back 33

court will imply terms to cover a situation for which the parties failed to provide for, to give more meaning to the contract

like established the determined time for a work to be done

Front 34

conduct of parties

Back 34

the conduct of the parties help determine their intentions

if they entered to the contract wihout protest, neither party will be allowed to protest the contract is to indefinite to be binding

Front 35

costum and usage of trade

Back 35

language and costums of an industry

the language can be used to interpret the contract

Front 36

avoidance of hardship

Back 36

party is bound to a contract even if its not a good bargain

but court can interpret the contract to avoid hardship (any forfeiture of a party's interest)