Tuesday, March 26, 2013

J.W. Southworth v. Joseph Oliver case brief

Southworth v. Oliver case brief summary
587 P.2d 994

SYNOPSIS:
Appellant landowners sought review of judgment of specific performance for sale of land in favor of appellee purchaser in the Circuit Court of Grant County (Oregon).

OVERVIEW: Appellant landowners sought review of judgment of specific performance of the sale of their ranch to appellee purchaser, contending a letter mailed by them was not an offer to sell and a proper acceptance sufficient to constitute a binding contract for enforcement purposes was lacking.

HOLDING:
The court rejected landowners' argument and affirmed the judgment. The court explained modern law construes both acts and words as having the meaning a reasonable person would attach to them in view of surrounding circumstances and a contract includes not only what parties said, but what is necessarily implied from what they said.

ANALYSIS:
-The court found landowners' letter quoting a price, when considered together with the facts and circumstances, constituted an offer and purchaser's acceptance resulted in a binding contract.
-The court observed landowners sought out adjacent purchaser indicating their interest in selling the land and determining a price.
-The court rejected the argument that the terms were too indefinite, explaining the absence of a security provision was a subordinate detail of performance to be properly made certain by court decree because sufficient expressed intent already existed.

RULES:
A price quotation or advertisement may contain sufficient indication of willingness to enter a bargain so that the party to whom it is addressed would be justified in believing that his assent would conclude the bargain.

OUTCOME: The court affirmed judgment requiring specific performance of the sale of appellant landowners' ranch to appellee purchaser because a binding contract was created when landowners' letter quoting a purchase price together with surrounding circumstances constituted an offer that purchaser accepted and subordinate details of performance which were not defined were of such a nature to properly be supplied by the court.

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