Question

Donald mailed a written offer and a deposit to Dwayne for a piece of property Dwayne owned that Donald wanted to buy. In his written offer, Donald stipulated that his offer would expire on February 4th, at which time Dwayne was to return the deposit if Dwayne had not accepted Donald's offer. When Dwayne received the offer, he made several changes to it, including extending the acceptance date until February 14th• Donald received the counteroffer before the 14th but did not sign the contract until February 18th • He returned the contract to Dwayne on February 19th• On the 14th, when Dwayne had not received an acceptance from Donald, Dwayne considered the negotiations terminated and sold the property to someone else. Donald sued, claiming breach of contract. Is Donald's claim correct? Explain. [Sullivan v. Economic Research Properties, 455

So. 2d 630 (Fla. Ct. App. 1984)]

Answer 1

Donald's claim may not be correct.

In this case, Donald made an offer with a stipulation that the offer would expire on February 4th. Dwayne made changes to the offer, which created a counteroffer. Donald did not accept the counteroffer until February 18th, which was after the date stipulated in the original offer.

Dwayne had the right to terminate the negotiations on February 14th, as Donald did not accept the counteroffer until February 18th. Therefore, the negotiations between Donald and Dwayne were terminated when Dwayne sold the property to someone else.

However, it would depend on the specific terms of the offer and counteroffer as well as the laws of the jurisdiction in which the contract was made.