25. On February 1, Dale made a written offer to sell an antique Duesenberg automobile to Maria, for $50,000. Maria is very interested in this car, but she has to make sure that she will have enough money available to pay for it. She writes back and asks Dale to hold his offer open for her until February 20, so she can sell some other assets to raise enough cash. Dale writes Maria, and agrees to hold his offer open for Maria until February 20, if Maria will pay him $1,000, which will be his to keep even if Maria decides not to buy the car. Maria agrees, and sends Dale $1,000. On February 15, Shane happens to see Dales car at an antique car event. Shane offers Dale $75,000 for the car, to be paid on March 1, and Dale accepts her offer they sign a short agreement. On February 19, Maria comes by Dales house with her $50,000, and says to Dale: I accept the offer you have been holding open for me, and here is my $50,000 to pay you for the car. You are Dales attorney, and Dale comes to you for legal advice. Dale is not a merchant of automobiles. Does Dale have a contract with Maria? Does Dale have a contract with Shane? a. Dale and Shane have a binding contract for $75,000. b. Dale and Maria have a binding contract for $50,000, effective as of Feb 1, because of the firm offer rule. c. Dale and Maria have a binding contract for $50,000, effective as of Feb 19. d. Dale has no contract at all.

26. Adam e-mails Barbara, offering to sell her 500 shares of Microsoft common stock for $40 each, for a total of $20,000. Barbara immediately writes back, saying I accept your offer regarding the 500 shares of Microsoft for $20,000. At the time, Microsoft shares were usually selling for about $50 each. When Adam realizes what other people are selling their stock for, he sends Barbara a note saying: I have changed my mind forget about buying the MSFT shares. Barbara sends Adam a check for $20,000, but Adam does not cash the check, and he does not transfer the shares to Barbara. If Barbara sues Adam to enforce her bargain regarding the shares of stock, what would the expected result be in court? a. Adam has a good defense that Barbara was not providing adequate consideration for the shares, because the price was too low, and the judge will rule that they had no enforceable contract. b. Adam has a good defense that he has not cashed the check, so there was no consideration paid for the shares, and the judge will rule there was no enforceable contract. c. The judge should rule that Barbara was entitled to the benefit of her bargain, and will enforce their agreement as a contract. d. The judge should rule that they had a quasi-contract that should be enforced as if it was a contract.

27. True or False If the parties to a contract are in a special trust relationship such as attorney-client, or physician-patient, or minister-church member, or parent-child, and the person in position of authority convinces the dependent person to sign a contract which is overly-favorable to the person in position of authority, the dependent person may be able to get out of the contract, on the basis of undue influence.

28. Jon is suffering from dementia. He still lives in his long-time home, which is worth $500,000. His neighbor Bill comes over, and gets Jon to sign an agreement to sell his house to Bill for $5,000, and gets Jon to sign a deed to transfer the title to Bill. Jon does not remember signing anything. Jons son, Donald, goes to court to try to get a judge to void the sale. What will probably happen? a. The judge will enforce the contract and deed, because it was signed by Jon. b. The judge will refuse to enforce the agreement. c. The judge will re-write the agreement, with a new price of $500,000, and force Bill to pay the full price.