Please answer the following questions fully. It does not need to be pages upon p
ID: 461329 • Letter: P
Question
Please answer the following questions fully. It does not need to be pages upon pages, but you must cover all the elements for each topic. Feel free to type or submit written answers on additional sheets of paper.
John owns a UWM Brew Pub. Business has been slow because a competitor opened up down the street and they have better food and drink specials. Instead of trying to compete, John wants out of the bar business. He is at a party with a number of friends and says “I hate the bar business, I might sell if I could get anything over $250,000 for my bar or something decent.” Ryan hears it and says “I accept.” The next morning Ryan calls John to ask when he can drop off his check for $250,000 and pick up the keys to the UWM Brew Pub. John tells Ryan he’s not selling so Ryan sues. Who wins and why? What defenses does John have and what arguments would Ryan need to make to prevail?
Explanation / Answer
As per my understanding of the law of contract, for a contract to be valid, there has to be an offer and the acceptance of that offer as per the other provisions of law of contract applicable. Law of Contract may vary from place to place but the Offer and Acceptance provisions remains the same. In the present case , John's statement " I hate the bar business, I might sell if I could get anything over $250,000 for my bar or something decent." can not be considered as an offer. It may be considered as an invitation to offer therefore Ryan's statement, " I accept." is not a valid acceptance and or an Offer (complete in all respects) from Ryan to John. Further it is important to state that there is no meeting of minds of John and Ryan about entering into a contract about sales or purchase of UWM Brew Pub. Therefore John's defence is about making a difference between an offer and an invitation to offer. Similarly, Ryan's argument is for acceptance to the offer made by John. As mentioned earlier, according to my understanding, the intention expressed by John is more in the nature of inviting offers " over $250,000 or something decent " is not a well defined offer of selling his bar for $250,000. Ryan should have given his offer to buy the bar (UWM Brew Pub) for $250,000 and John should have accepted the offer to convert the transaction into a valid lawful contract. Therefore John wins as he has neither made an offer to Ryan nor given acceptance to his offer.