Sharelle Crawford

Ann Sanok
BUS-206

Southern New Hampshire University

24 October 2015
Sam Stevens lives in an apartment complex where he is working on his invention. He is
developing a machine that plays the sound of a barking dog to scare off potential intruders. A
national chain store wants to sell the invention exclusively but they do not have a contract. Sam
verbally said that he would ship/provide 1000 units to the chain store, several months ago. One
day Sam comes home and find two letters in his mailbox. One letter is an eviction notice from
his landlord, asking him to vacate within 30 days because his invention is disturbing the
neighbors living in the complex and also according to the landlord he is not to conduct business
in the unit he dwells. The second letter is from the company asking Sam to deliver the 1000 units
to them immediately.
The definition of a contract is a promise or set of promises for the breach of which the
law gives a remedy or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes a duty. as a
promise or set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy or the performance of
which the law in some way recognizes a duty. For a contract to exist, the parties also must have
legal capacity to enter into a contract, exchange valid consideration, and be entering into a
contract with a legal purpose. The contract is formed as soon as the second party makes his or
her promise.

The agreement is one of the first of the four elements necessary for a contract; consists of
an offer made by one party, the offeror, and the acceptance of the offer by another party, the
offeree. consists of an offer A key factor in the agreement element of a contract; consists of the
terms and conditions set by one party, the offeror, and presented to another party, the offeree. by
one party, called the offeror, to enter into a contract and an acceptance A key factor in the
agreement element of a contract; consists of the agreement of one party, the offeree, to the terms
of the offer in the contract made by the other party, the offeror. of the terms of the offer by the
other party, called the offeree. The second element of the contract is the consideration The
bargained-for exchange; what each party gets in exchange for his or her promise under a
contract., the bargained-for exchange or what each party gets in exchange for his or her promise
under the contract. The third element is contractual capacity The legal ability to enter into a
binding agreement.. Capacity is the legal ability to enter into a binding agreement. Most adults
over the age of majority have capacity; those under the age of majority, people suffering from
mental illness, and intoxicated persons do not.
Legal object is the fourth element of a binding legal contract. Meaning in order to be
enforceable, the contract cannot be either illegal or against public policy. Sams invention has
created so much noise that the other tenants have complained to the landlord and this is definitely
a breach of contract. So he will have to move as the eviction requested.. As for business being
conducted from his apartment, I dont see this as being a good reason to evict. He is not
operating a business out of his apartment; he is only working on his invention. In order to have
the 1000 units ready to deliver to the chain store.

As for that verbal agreement made with the chain store This is basically an promissory
estoppels. The chain store initially didnt give anything in writing that suggested an amount that
Sam would be paid once the 1000 units were shipped, which can possibly make this agreement
voidable. Sam must find a new place to complete his invention and prepare to vacate the
premises. The law states that in a Landlord Tenant Agreement the landlord has the duty to
provide the tenant with possession of the premises; the tenant has the right to possession of the
premises according to the terms of the lease. An element of the tenant's right to possess the
premises is the right to quietly enjoy the premises. One of the most important promises that a
landlord makes in a lease is the covenant of quiet enjoyment.
Even if there is not a valid legal contract between Sam and the chain store, there may still
be a quasi-contract (Chapter 13) or elements of what is called a promissory estoppel. A Quasicontract is known as a court-imposed contractual obligation to prevent unjust enrichment. They
are sometimes called implied-in-law contracts, but they are not actually contracts. Rather, in
order to prevent one party from being unjustly enriched at the expense of another, the courts
impose contractual obligations on one of the parties as if that party had entered into a contract.
There wouldnt be a Quasi-contract in this case but more like a Promissory estoppel occurred.
These three conditions below do exist in this case.

One party makes a promise knowing the other party will rely on it.

The other party does rely on the promise.

The only way to avoid injustice is to enforce the promise

In conclusion, we know that the elements that make a contract binding are the agreement,
the consideration, contractual capacity, and a legal object. Sam Stevens did verbally agree to
deliver 1000 units but was not offered a price for his inventions verbally or in writing. He is in
breach of his lease due to the facts that he disturbed the other tenants who complained to the
landlord. Now he has to vacate within 30 days.

Kubasek, N. (2010). Chapter13: Introduction to Contracts. In Dynamic

business law: The essentials. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.