Dean is the landlord of flats that he rents out to university students at 500 per month. Several of his tenants requested him to reduce the rental in view of the steep increase in their fees. After due consideration and assessing the means of the tenants individually, Dean came up with a scheme to help them and sent them separate letters setting out his revised terms for the next 6 months.

(c) Dean's letter to Jeffrey stated that the rental would be reduced for the next 6 months. Dean intended a reduction of only 100 but forgot to mention the new rate in his letter. Jeffrey read the letter but failed to notice that the amount of reduction was not mentioned in it. Jeffrey, who had overspent his monthly allowance, then sent Dean a cheque for 50 for that month. Dean, annoyed with Jeffrey's actions, sent him another letter returning the cheque and stating that he was not reducing Jeffrey's rental. Jeffrey, having heard from Abed that Abed's rental had been reduced to 300 sued Dean for a declaration that rental was payable only at the rate of 300 for the relevant 6 months.

Advice Dean based on Malaysian Law