Preview

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to perform a service

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1024 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to perform a service
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to perform a service, provide a product or commit to an act, and is enforceable by law. There are several types of contracts, and each have specific terms and conditions. All contracts, whether verbal or written, must include specific components that will make them legally enforceable in a court of law. If any of the components are missing, the courts will consider the contract unenforceable. To be enforceable, a contract must be legally valid, and it must consist of an offer , acceptance , and consideration. When a salesperson asks you to sign on the dotted line, it is important to understand the contents of the agreement you are signing. After all, the agreement you are entering into is a contract! In other words, a contract is enforceable when both parties agree to something, back the promise up with money or something of value, both are in sound mind and intend to carry out their promise and what they promise to do is within the law. Most commonly, a contract is written and signed by the parties. However, there are several other types of contracts that are considered enforceable. There are even some that are not considered enforceable and serve only as a way for a court to determine the obligation on the part of either party. Offer and acceptance- A contract is formed when an offer by one party is accepted by the other party. An offer must be distinguished from mere willingness to deal or negotiate. For example, X offers to make and sell to Y calendars featuring Australian paintings. Before any agreement is reached on size, quality, style or price, Y decides not to continue. At this stage, there is no legally binding contract between X and Y because there is no definite offer for Y to accept until the essential terms of the bargain have been decided. An offer need not be made to a specific person. It may be made to a person, a class of people, or to the whole world. An offer is a definite promise

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A contract is a binding legal agreement that is enforceable in a court of law.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Contracts Practice Exam

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    An offer is an outward manifestation of intent to be bound by contractual agreement requiring definite and certain terms that are communicated to the offeree.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An offer is defined as the manifestation of the “willingness to enter into a bargain so made as to justify another person in understanding that his assent to the bargain is invited and will conclude it.” There must be a definite, clearly stated offer to do something. An offer does not include ball park estimates, requests for proposals, expressions of interest, or letters of intent. An offer will lapse when the time for acceptance expires, if the offer is withdrawn before it is accepted, or after a reasonable time in the circumstances (generally the greater the value of the contract, the longer the life of the offer).…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A contract is a document signed by the buyer and seller that serves as a legally-binding agreement that defines the terms, conditions, and remedies of the buyer-seller relationship.…

    • 4687 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gloria Smithson

    • 536 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A valid offer must clearly specify any term and circumstances that are pertinent to making an agreement. The offer must only provide the recipient with a clear opportunity to accept or reject the contract. No contract can come into existence if the terms of the offer are unclear or loose and indefinite.…

    • 536 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Law 421 Contracts

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A contract is an agreement between parties that is enforceable by law (Melvin, 2012). Transactions conducted within the business world and by individuals that involve commitments to provide goods, services, or real property are usually in contract form. When one party makes an offer to another and they reach an agreement, a contract is formed. An agreement reached between the cooperating parties contains a promise, for example, one party agrees to sell a vehicle for $500 and the other party accepts and pays the money then receives the merchandise. This constitutes an acceptance of assent between parties showing that the parties agree with the terms offered. To ensure fairness of trade for goods and services, contracts are enacted between individuals in the event one party breaks their promise or breaches the contract.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    “All contracts are agreements, but not all agreements are contracts” (Luizzo, 2010, pg. 79). In business, contracts are used to employ people and to sell goods, and to sell services (Luizzo, 2010, pg. 79). For a contract to be enforceable legally it must contain certain elements. There must be an offer made to one party and acceptance by another party; there must be consideration; all involved must mutually agree; all parties must be competent; there must be proper…

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A contract contains an offeror and offeree; the offeror is the individual who makes the business suggestion, or rather an ‘offer’ to another individual- that other individual whom accepts this offer in turn becomes the offeree.…

    • 2817 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Contract Paper

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The second key element of a contract is the agreement portion of a contract. This section is often referenced as the “offer and acceptance portion” of a contract. For contracts it is just the solicitation from one party and the acceptance by the other party for a product or service. Once the agreement is satisfied it is paired with the mutual assent to develop a binding contract.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A contract is said to come into existence when acceptance of an offer has been communicated to the offerer by the offeree. An offer is an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed, the "offeree".…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Agreement and contracts

    • 1942 Words
    • 6 Pages

    An offer is an expression of readiness to do something which, if followed by the unconditional acceptance of another person, results in a contract. For example, if a company tells you that it will sell you 100 boxes of red wine at the price of $100,000, that company is making you an offer. If no time limit is specified, an offer is valid for a reasonable length of time before the offeror (the person who makes the offer) can revoke or cancel it. To avoid potential disputes, however, the offeror should specify the deadline for the acceptance of an offer. It is also important to note that the offeror cannot take silence…

    • 1942 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Offer and Acceptance

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An offer is defined by Treitel as "an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed", the "offeree". In addition, an offer is a statement of the terms on which the offeror is willing to be bound. When an offer has been made, it doesn’t means a contract has formed until the offeree accepts the offer.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    THE AGREEMENT

    • 3540 Words
    • 15 Pages

    The elements of an agreement are an offer and an acceptance --one party offers a bargain to another, who accepts.…

    • 3540 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Offer and Acceptance

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages

    An offer is a firm undertaking to be bound in the every its terms are accepted by the other. It must be final, certain and unambiguous. There must be no further negotiations or discussion required.…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Offer and acceptance: A contract is formed when one party offer to another party, and accepted by another party. The offer must not be any forcible offer to any other person, offer must be free of consent.…

    • 3150 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics