Question
QUESTION TWO, required: Contracts Katherine Hogan. age 82, lives by herself in a middle-class neighborhood in Patterson NY (Putnam County) in the house she has
QUESTION TWO, required: Contracts
Katherine Hogan.
age 82, lives by herself in a middle-class neighborhood in Patterson
NY (Putnam County) in the house she has lived in for the past fifty years.
She has bad
cataracts
John Finch
lives next door. He is 40, and lives alone there, but his children
stav
him on weekends. He has lived there for ten years. He has several different lines of
work going.
from handyman to
lawn care to part-time delivery truck driving.
He
nas
done small repair jobs over the years for his neighbor Katherine
Katherine
happens to be
outside in
her yard one day at the same time
that John is in his
vard, and she
asks
his advice.
She says that the windows on the west side of her
house, both stories,
are in very bad repair
I he
wooden frames have rotted, such that
in summer heat and insects get in.
and in winter the cold wind blows into the
rooms.
She is afraid that some of the six windows will fall right out of their frames altogether
John says oh, I think I can handle that for you.... Its a bigger job,
SO
I'll prepare
Estimate and go over it with you,
and if you agree,
we can both
sign the Estimate and
that will be our contract. Katherine says that's a good idea, so John goes in and
measures windows,
assesses the condition of the frames, and so on
He prepares the Estimate, which includes six new windows to be bought from Lowe's
or Home Depot; then materials to replace the framing into which the windows will be
set, miscellaneous other materials like caulking, fasteners,
etc., and an estimate of the
cost of his labor.
The total comes to $2500 for materials, and $2000 for labor,
for a
total of $4500. A first payment of $2500 is to be made at signing,
SO John can get the
materials, and the other $2000 is to be paid at completion of the job.
He calls
Katherine to let her know what the numbers are, and says that if those are acceptable
he will bring the Estimate over on the weekend.
She agrees over the phone to the
dollar amounts.
Katherine tells her son Jim,
age 50, what she is going to do, and he says it sounds
like a good idea at a reasonable price, but she should make sure that John is a licensed
home improvement contractor in Putnam County.
Katherine calls John and asks him if he is a licensed home improvement contractor in
Putnam County, and he says yes, he'll bring her a copy of his certificate of licensure
when he brings the Estimate.
Two days later John brings the Estimate over on a form that looks fairly official, with his
name, address, and phone number at the top, and then his Putnam County Home
Improvement Contractor License # just underneath that.
The Estimate lays
out the materials and labor (see above) and at the bottom of the form
provides signature and date lines for Customer and Contractor. Below
print, dark grey ink,
It says: See reverse for additional
And on the back, also in small print, dark grey ink, it says
The prices for materials for this job are based on the local prices as of the date of the
Customers signatures.
If materials prices go up by more than 5%, as documented by
Contractor, Customer agrees to pay the higher price for materials
It also says:
"Customer agrees that Contractor shall not be liable for damages due to negligent or
grossly negligent performance of the work."
John also brings with him a document that looks like a Putnam County Home
Improvement Contractor license awarded to him,
but is in fact a document he created
himself using Photoshop, Word, and other relevant creative tools.
Katherine inspects the "license" and the Estimate as well as she can,
but her vision is
blurry due to her cataracts.
She can see the numbers on the front of the Estimate.
Dut
can't really read the small font items on the back. However, trusting her neighbor of
many years, she signs and dates the Estimate, and makes the first payment.
John gets to work, and when he is finished, presents his bill for the second and final
Payment.
(A) MEANWHILE, Katherine's son
has visited and has looked at the documents. He
takes a picture of the "license" and sends it to
a friend who works in the licensing
division of Putnam Countv.
That person emails back that that is NOT a genuine
HIC license, and that none has been issued to a John Finch. Katherine's son
lets her Know.
ASSUME THAT THE WORK IS DONE WELL. When John comes over and asks for the
rest of the money, is Katherine obliged to pay the $2000 for labor? Why or why not?
What is the legal rule that determines this question?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(B) Now we will go the other way. Katherine's son does NOT see or get involved
with the documents, so the question of the license's authenticity does not arise.
Katherine PAYS John the rest of the money. Three months later, after the first
heavy
snowfall, Katherine hears cracking noises in the upstairs
west wall,
and is
extremely upset to find that the roof has a pronounced sag right over one or the
new windows, with the result that the gutter no longer functions properly,
106
shingles are not lying flat, and she can see right through the wall on one side of
that window.
She is
appalled. She calls her son, who finds a structural engineer who comes
and inspects and delivers a report:
when John was re-framing the window, he
cut through a structurally necessary upright to make room for the new window,
which was somewhat larger than the original one.
Windows the
exact size or the
original ones were no longer available
The consequence
is that the roof is now without some of its necessary support,
and an expensive repair job will now be necessary.
Katherine calls John, explains the situation, and asks him to pay for the repairs.
John refuses to do so.
and points to the second clause on the back of the Estimate:
"Customer agrees that Contractor shall not be liable for damages due to negligent or
grossly negligent performance of the work.
Questions arising:
(B)(1) What are the four required elements of any contract? List each one and
say whether that element was satisfied as of the date Katherine signed the
Estimate, and now.
(B(2) Katherine has at least two possible causes of action that she may be able
to use to get money from John with which to pay for the repairs
(B(2XA) List one of her causes
of action. Explain the legal rule, and
show how it fits Katherine's
situation.
Say what defense John will assert. and exolain
whether that will be valid or not.
(B)(2)(B) List another of her causes of action. Explain the legal rule, and show how it
fIts Katherine s situation.
Say what defense John will assert, and explain whether that
will be valid or not.
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