John sends Carol an e-mail message stating that if Carol will promise to pay him
ID: 384714 • Letter: J
Question
John sends Carol an e-mail message stating that if Carol will promise to pay him $500,000, John will sell his vacation home in Big Bear to Carol. John’s e-mail message also says that if Carol wants to buy his vacation home, she must e-mail his sister and let her know that she wants to buy the home by December 1, because John will be out of the country on an African safari with no e-mail access. John’s e-mail message provides his sister’s e-mail address to Carol, but is not courtesy copied to his sister. Before John leaves on safari, he signs a power of attorney authorizing his sister to sell his vacation home in his absence. On November 30, Carol replies to John’s e-mail stating that she wants to buy his vacation house. On December 6, John’s safari reaches a small town where John can telephone his sister. John asks his sister whether she has heard from Carol about buying the vacation home. His sister tells him that she has not heard from Carol. John instructs his sister to sell the vacation home to Bob. John explained to his sister that Bob was young, but had inherited a lot of money and previously said he wanted to buy the vacation home. John is anxious to sell the vacation home before the end of the year for income tax purposes. On December 18, on behalf of John, John’s sister enters into a written contract with Bob to sell the vacation home to Bob (assume that John’s sister has the authority to enter into a legally binding contract on John’s behalf). If John does not convey the title to the vacation home to Bob when required under the purchase and sale agreement, what remedies could Bob have against John? Explain how each remedy applies to the facts of this situation. What effect does John’s failure to convey title to the vacation home have on Janice’s rights, if any? Explain.
Explanation / Answer
If John does not convey the title to the vacation home to Bob when required under the purchase and sale agreement, what remedies could Bob have against John?
As per the assumption made in the case, John's sister has full legal authority to enter into a legally binding contract on behalf of John. Hence, if John does not convey the title to Bob, following are the remedies that Bob could have against John.
on 18th Dec, John's sister enters into a written contract with Bob to sell the vacation home to Bob. This is a clear evidence for Bob that a contractual agreement is already established. As part of the sale agreement, Bob would've also collected the Power of attorney signed by John authorizing his sister. These two are sufficient for Bob to sue John if John doesn't convey the title to the vacation home to Bob.
What effect does John’s failure to convey title to the vacation home have on Janice’s rights, if any? Explain.
I believe, based on the information of the case, here Janice is referred to Carol. John's failure to convey the title to Carol will certainly have effects because John's first e-mail was a legally made offer to Carol because it has stated the price of the vacation home along with all the terms and conditions. A formal offer letter contains these things and the e-mail was sufficient to treated as a legal offer for making any contract.
However, Carol failed to follow the contractual instruction provided by John which is asking Carol to respond to John's sister via email and not to John as he is on vacation. John should've copied his sister when he sent a mail to Carol to avoid these legal complications.
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