Contracts

Austin agreed with May to build and build new bookshelves and cabinets in the tv room. The total cost was to be $6,000.00- half of that amount was for materials and the other half for his labor costs. May has lived in this house for 12 years and she owns it. They entered into two separate oral agreements- one for the materials and a separate agreement for the labor. Neither the bookshelves nor the cabinets will be permanently attached to the house. The bookshelves will have detachable strips that fit into hook devices on the wall to keep the bookcases from toppling over if children climb on them or in an earthquake. Austin was to give her an invoice every two weeks and she would pay the cost for materials and labor at that time. He estimated that it would take him 5-6 weeks to do the project as he had to tear out a lot of old cabinets and then build the cabinets and bookshelves, finish them and make certain that the new work matched the old work that would still be in the room. Austin went out to buy the materials and he delivered the materials to Mays house on April 2, 2017 and began work on the project on April 3, 2017. May was going to be out of town during this time so she gave Austin a key to the house. At the end of two weeks, Austin prepared an invoice and faxed it to May. She did not respond so he continued to work on the house (she was still out of town) but he sent another fax and left a voice mail message for her at her hotel. At the end of 4 weeks, she still had not responded so he sent the new invoice with all of the materials and work done to date to her by fax. She did not reply but two days later she came home and he then presented her with the new invoice with all of the costs for materials and labor to date (ie, for the last 4 weeks). May told him that she would pay the wholesale price for the material but she would not pay for any labor. She told him that he had received free room and board for the time she was gone. (He had not spent any time in the house except to work on the agreed items). Austin sues May and it is your job to assess the validity of the contract, any defenses, and the probable outcome of this litigation.

What contracts are these?

Are these valid contracts?

Are these contracts enforceable by the court? Why or why not?

At the trial, can May testify as to matters that were not agreed upon in her arrangements with Austin?