One evening, after attending the theater, two gentlemen were walking down the avenue when they observed a rather well dressed and attractive young lady walking ahead of them. One of them turned to the other and remarked, "I`d give $250.00 to spend the night with that woman."
Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard the remark, turned around, and replied, "I`ll take you up on that offer."
She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so after bidding his companion good night, the man accompanied the young lady to her apartment.
The following morning as he prepares to leave the man presented her with $125.00 cash. She demanded the balance of the outstanding sum, stating "If you don`t pay me the balance of $125.00, I'll sue you for it."
He laughed, saying: "I`d like to see you get it on these grounds."
Within a few days, he was surprised when he received a summons ordering his presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit. He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details of the case.
His lawyer said: "She can`t possibly get a judgment against you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see how her case will be presented."
After the usual preliminaries, the lady`s lawyer addressed the court as follows:
"Your honor, my client, this lady, is the owner of a piece of property, a garden spot, surrounded by a profuse growth of shrubbery, which property she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specified length of time for the sum of $250.00. The defendant took possession of the property, used it extensively for the purposes for which it was rented, but upon evacuating the premises, he paid only $125.00, one-half of the amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive, since it is restricted property, and we ask judgment be granted against the defendant to assure payment of the balance."
The defendant`s lawyer was impressed and amused by the way his opponent had presented the case. His defense, therefore was somewhat different from the way he originally planned to present it:.
"Your honor, my client agrees that the lady has a fine piece of property, that he did rent such property for a time, and a degree of pleasure was derived from the transaction. However, my client found a well on the property around which he placed his own stones, sunk a shaft, and erected a pump, all labor performed personally by him. We claim these improvements to the property were sufficient to offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff was adequately compensated for the rental of said property. We, therefore, ask that judgment not be granted."
The young lady`s lawyer answered thus:
"Your honor, my client agrees that the defendant did find a well on her property. However, had the defendant not known that the well existed, he would never have rented the property. Also, upon evacuating the premises, the defendant removed the stones, pulled out the shaft, and took the pump with him. In doing so, he not only dragged the equipment through the shrubbery, but left the hole much larger than it was prior to his occupancy, making the property much less desirable to others. We, therefore, ask that judgment be granted."
In the Judge`s decision, he provided for two options:
"Pay the $125.00 or have the equipment detached and provided to the plaintiff for damages."
The defendant wrote a cheque immediately!
Lessons learned: Respect a contract and honor the terms and conditions as agreed. If you are unsure, request for inspection and tests before agreeing to the contract.
Section 5 of the Contracts Act 1950 states that: A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer, but not afterwards. An acceptance may be revoked at any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor, but not afterwards.
Under Section 23, A contract is not voidable merely because it was caused by one of the parties to it being under a mistake as to a matter of fact.
Section 38 says: The parties to a contract must either perform, or offer to perform, their respective promises, unless the performance is dispensed with or excused under this Act.
Section 40 states that: When a party to a contract has refused to perform, or disabled himself from performing, his promise in its entirety, the promisee may put an end to the contract.
Section 65 provides for the consequences of rescission of voidable contract and Section 74 provides for the consequences of breach of contract.
Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard the remark, turned around, and replied, "I`ll take you up on that offer."
She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so after bidding his companion good night, the man accompanied the young lady to her apartment.
The following morning as he prepares to leave the man presented her with $125.00 cash. She demanded the balance of the outstanding sum, stating "If you don`t pay me the balance of $125.00, I'll sue you for it."
He laughed, saying: "I`d like to see you get it on these grounds."
Within a few days, he was surprised when he received a summons ordering his presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit. He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details of the case.
His lawyer said: "She can`t possibly get a judgment against you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see how her case will be presented."
After the usual preliminaries, the lady`s lawyer addressed the court as follows:
"Your honor, my client, this lady, is the owner of a piece of property, a garden spot, surrounded by a profuse growth of shrubbery, which property she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specified length of time for the sum of $250.00. The defendant took possession of the property, used it extensively for the purposes for which it was rented, but upon evacuating the premises, he paid only $125.00, one-half of the amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive, since it is restricted property, and we ask judgment be granted against the defendant to assure payment of the balance."
The defendant`s lawyer was impressed and amused by the way his opponent had presented the case. His defense, therefore was somewhat different from the way he originally planned to present it:.
"Your honor, my client agrees that the lady has a fine piece of property, that he did rent such property for a time, and a degree of pleasure was derived from the transaction. However, my client found a well on the property around which he placed his own stones, sunk a shaft, and erected a pump, all labor performed personally by him. We claim these improvements to the property were sufficient to offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff was adequately compensated for the rental of said property. We, therefore, ask that judgment not be granted."
The young lady`s lawyer answered thus:
"Your honor, my client agrees that the defendant did find a well on her property. However, had the defendant not known that the well existed, he would never have rented the property. Also, upon evacuating the premises, the defendant removed the stones, pulled out the shaft, and took the pump with him. In doing so, he not only dragged the equipment through the shrubbery, but left the hole much larger than it was prior to his occupancy, making the property much less desirable to others. We, therefore, ask that judgment be granted."
In the Judge`s decision, he provided for two options:
"Pay the $125.00 or have the equipment detached and provided to the plaintiff for damages."
The defendant wrote a cheque immediately!
Lessons learned: Respect a contract and honor the terms and conditions as agreed. If you are unsure, request for inspection and tests before agreeing to the contract.
Section 5 of the Contracts Act 1950 states that: A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer, but not afterwards. An acceptance may be revoked at any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor, but not afterwards.
Under Section 23, A contract is not voidable merely because it was caused by one of the parties to it being under a mistake as to a matter of fact.
Section 38 says: The parties to a contract must either perform, or offer to perform, their respective promises, unless the performance is dispensed with or excused under this Act.
Section 40 states that: When a party to a contract has refused to perform, or disabled himself from performing, his promise in its entirety, the promisee may put an end to the contract.
Section 65 provides for the consequences of rescission of voidable contract and Section 74 provides for the consequences of breach of contract.
7 comments:
Hi Mav,
Very interesting write-up and 'illustration' on the law of contract!
My question is, who is the author of this 'contract of service'? hehe
Didn't the judge ask to examine the property in question to see for himself how much damage was done to the well when the shaft was withdrawn?
The much larger hole can be stitched back to its original state, making the property much more desirable to others. Therefore the lady should had demanded a much larger sum to compensate for the surgical operation required.
Can we kick out those political jokers using those act?
Haha. No wonder shakespeare said: First, get the lawyers
MasterT
First, get the lawyers. Then get those who use lawyers to try bullying others.
CaptainCaveman,
The author is Mr BayiSingh.
Gongkaukau,
The Judge forget to examine but decided he believed the damages.
Moo_t,
Yes, you can.
MasterT,
You are also a Shakespearian.
Bayi,
Don't lah; I'm also law-yar lah.
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