Business Law - Mutual Mistake
Autor: Jannisthomas • May 28, 2018 • 1,161 Words (5 Pages) • 772 Views
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The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) applies to contracts for the purchase and sale of goods in which most states have adapted as law. When applied to the scenario discussed, the UCC may be used to determine a contractual dispute and applicable remedies. Article II of the UCC specifically discusses sales as it pertains to the formation of a contract, obligations, performance, breach, and remedies (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-ucc-contracts-the-sale-goods.html) For example, U.C.C. § 2-601. (2002) Buyer's Rights on Improper Delivery states:
Subject to the provisions of this Article on breach in installment contracts (Section 2-612) and unless otherwise agreed under the sections on contractual limitations of remedy (Sections 2-718 and 2-719), if the goods or the tender of delivery fail in any respect to conform to the contract, the buyer may (a) reject the whole; or (b) accept the whole; or c) accept any commercial unit or units and reject the rest. (http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-601)
This section of the UCC could allow the purchaser to reject the vehicle and receive a refund due to the fact that the vehicle received was not the 3.2 liter as stated in the contract.
In the overall context of contract law, when a contract is rescinded based on mutual mistake of fact, there may be winners and losers. It depends on the case and what is at stake in the contract. Some cases, the actual fact that was assumed differently may change the price in the item for sale, as in Sherwood v. Walker. In the example of Hartley and the salesperson, there would be no winners. Hartley would not receive the vehicle that he wanted and the salesperson would not receive the sale. When parties enter into a contract based on a mutual mistake of fact, both parties are assenting to a misunderstanding; the adversely affected party can make the contract voidable but this neither creates a winner or loser, because both parties had an interest in gaining something by entering into the contract in the first place.
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