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Business Law Chapter 10: The Law of Capacity
Date:
LESSON 10-1 ILLEGAL AGREEMENTS
I.
Which Agreements Are Illegal?
A. Illegal Lotteries
B. Agreements to Pay Usurious Interest
C. Agreements Involving Illegal Discrimination
D. Agreements That Obstruct Legal Procedures
E. Agreements Made Without a Required Competency License
F. Agreements That Affect Marriage Negatively
G. Agreements That Restrain Trade Unreasonably
1. Price Fixing
2. Resale Price Maintenance
3. Allocation of Markets
H. Agreements Not to Compete
II.
When Will the Courts Enforce Illegal Agreements?
A. Protected Victims
B. The Excusably Ignorant
C. Rescission Prior to Illegal Act
D. Divisible Contracts
Vocabulary: Define the following vocabulary terms.
1. lottery
Game involving a prize, chance, and consideration.
2. wager
A bet on the uncertain outcome of an event.
3. compounding a crime To refrain from informing on or prosecuting an alleged crime in
exchange for money or other valuable consideration.
4. competency license A license required by a state to ensure that persons in certain occupations
and businesses are competent.
5. revenue license
6. anti-trust laws
7. price fixing
A license required only to raise revenue rather than to protect the public.
Federal and state laws enacted to preserve competition.
Competing firms agree on the same price to be charged for a product or service.
8. bid rigging
The act when competing firms who bid on jobs agree that one bidder will have the lowest bid for
a particular job.
9. unconscionable Describes a contract that is so grossly unfair that parties under ordinary
circumstances would not accept it.
10. When are agreements considered illegal?
Agreements that involve contracting for an illegal act generally are void and unenforceable.
Almost any agreement to commit a felony will be an illegal agreement.
11.
Describe the three illegal agreements that unreasonably restrain trade.ice fixing: competing firms
agree on the same price to be charged for a product of service, which injures consumers. (2) Resale
price maintenance: manufacturers contract with retailers
12. Explain how parties to an illegal agreement are often not equally to blame.
Parties to an illegal agreement are often not equally to blame when one party lies to another
person to enter an illegal agreement. If the illegal agreement was created by fraud, duress,
misrepresentation, or undue influence, the victim may obtain restitution.
13. What are the various forms of illegal agreements?
The various illegal agreements include those in which there may be a specific statute forbidding a
contract, agreements that obstruct legal procedures, agreements that are made without a required
competency license, agreements that affect marriage negatively, and agreements that
unreasonably restrain trade.
14. Which agreements, although illegal, are enforceable in court?
LESSON 10-2 THE STATUTE
OF FRAUDS
I.
Why Have a Statute of Frauds?
A. Contracts Within the
Statute of Frauds
1. Executed Contracts
2. Executory Contracts
B. Requirements of the Writing
1. Statute of Frauds
Requirements
(a) names of the parties
(b) subject matter
description
(c) price
(d) quantity
(e) signature
(f) other essential terms
2. UCC Requirements
3. Special Rules for
Signatures
II. Types of Contracts Within the
Statute of Frauds
A. Contract for the Sale of
Goods for $500 or more
B. Contract to Sell an Interest in
Real Property
C. Contracts that Require More
Than One Year to Complete
D. Contracts to Pay a Debt or
Answer for Another’s Debt
1. Exception—Main Purpose Rule
E. Contract for Which the
Consideration is Marriage
III. How Are Contracts Interpreted?
A. Acknowledgment of Final
Agreement
B. Specific Rules of
Interpretation
1. Analysis
2. Conflicting Terms
3. Words
4. Ambiguities
5. Implied Reasonableness
C. Parole Evidence Rule
1. Exception to the Parole Evidence
Rule
Vocabulary: Define the following vocabulary terms.
1. Statute of Frauds Statutes that require certain contracts to be evidenced by a signed writing in
order to be enforceable in court.
2. parole evidence Words spoken prior to the execution of the final writing at the time of signing.
Parol evidence generally is inadmissible in court.
3. Which key elements must be in a writing in order to satisfy the Statute of Frauds?
(1) Names of the parties, (2) subject matter escription,
(3) price, (4) quantity, (5) signature, (6) other
essential terms.
4. What are the special rules regarding signatures?
Under Statute of Frauds requirements, only the parties whose signatures actually appear on the t is
intended as a signature or authentication of thewriting.
5.Briefly describe the five types of executory contracts that must be evidenced by a writing
and signed by the party against whom the contract is to be enforced.
(1)
Contract for the sale of goods for $500 or more:
If parties agree to buy and sell goods for a price of $500 or more, their contract must be evidenced by a
writing. If a modification to a sale of under $500 brings the price above $500, then a contract
must be signed in writing.
(2)
Contract to sell an interest in real property:
Transfers of real property, or of lesser interest such as a lease or the right to pump oil or cut timber,
must be in a properly signed writing to be enforceable. In most states oral leases for one year or
less are enforceable. Some states require that contracts employing real estate brokers satisfy the
Statute of Frauds.
(3)
Contracts that require more than one year to complete:
Courts will not enforce a contact that takes more than one year to complete unless there is a signed
writing to prove the agreement the year begins at the time the contract is made, not at the time
the contractual performance is to begin.
(4)
Contract to pay a debt or answer for another’s debt or the debts of an estate:
Contracts to pay a debt or answer for another’s debt must be in writing. An exception is the primary promise
in which one person orally agrees to a contract and payment on behalf another person.
(5)
Contract for which the consideration is marriage:
to marry.
6.
Describe why the Statute of Frauds is necessary.
Because oral contracts may be subject to fraudulent claims, the law requires that some of the most important
contracts be pla
ced in writing in order to be enforced in court. These laws are known as the Statute of Frauds.
7.
On what occasions does the Statute of Frauds require a writing?
(1)
Contracts to buy and sell goods for a price of $500 or more; (2) contracts to buy and sell real
property or any interest in real property; (3) contracts that require more than one year to
complete; (4) promises to pay the debt or answer for a legal obligation of another person; (5)
promises to give something of value in return for a promise of marriage.
8.
What are the rules of contract interpretation?
(1)
Analysis (2) conflicting terms (3) words (4)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Choose two cases from page 152 questions 26-29 in your textbook and answer them below:
1)
2)