Contract Law: Breach of Contract and Legal Framework for Chattel Mortgages

Running head: CONTRACT LAW 1
Contract Law
Student’s Name
Date

CONTRACT LAW 2
QUESTION 1 (A)
A buyer has entered into a contract with the seller who advertised the car on a carpark
with a sign “FOR SALE” including his telephone number and price. The buyer has already
provided the seller with a deposit in form of a cheque as requested by the seller who later
requests the buyer to submit the balance by 1st of November. The buyer is able to source for
funds from an investor and offers to give the money to the seller by 25th October, however, the
seller requests for a different amount as per the one that he advertised and they had agreed upon.
In this case the buyer can accuse the seller of breaching an express term in their contract.
The contract between the buyer and the seller is legally binding due to the presence of contract
elements which are offer, acceptance, consideration, competency and mutuality (Cartwright,
2016). The seller offered to sell the car, the buyer offered to purchase the car, they both
consented and the buyer provided a deposit as consideration. The seller was to provide the
vehicle to the buyer as they agreed at a specific price yet he later changes the price. This is a
breach of the terms of contract which the buyer can claim against the seller. This act by the seller
is referred to as anticipatory breach.
Secondly the buyer could sue the seller for breaching section 18 and 35 of Competition
and Consumer Act [2010]. Section 35 of the act titled Bait advertising denotes that it is illegal to
advertise a good or service at a specific price if, the seller believes that the price might change on
ground of several reasons thus affecting the contract. In this case the buyer could accuse the
seller of breaching this law by advertising the car with a specific price intentionally knowing that
the price will change (Adriaanse, 2016). This violation is stipulated in Frustrated Contracts Act
[1978].