Question

Stewart, the owner of ABC Construction, agreed with Joan, the owner of XYZ Hotel that he would complete renovations on her upper scale hotel on the beach in Florida by October 1. The amount due to Stewart under the contract was $250,000. The contract contained a clause by which Stewart would pay Joan $50,000 for each day he was late on completing the project. Unfortunately, an unexpected strong earthquake shook the area; and while the earthquake did not damage the hotel itself, Stewart encountered significant difficulty in getting supplies due to the high demand for building material following the earthquake. Because he believed that traveling, himself, to other states to obtain supplies would be prohibitively expensive, he delayed the project for two weeks while waiting for local stores to have sufficient supplies available. Stewart finished renovations six days late. Joan told Stewart that she owed him nothing but that he owed her $50,000. Stewart told Joan that he was suing for the entire $250,000 because it was not his fault the earthquake delayed matters. Which of the following is Stewart's best defense?

A. Mitigated damages term
B. Liquidated damages clause
C. Stipulated damages
D. Acknowledged damages clause
E. Approved and acknowledged damages clause

Answer 1

Mitigated damages term

Step-by-step explanation:

The best defense for Stewarts in this situation is Mitigated damage term. This enables him to reduce his penalty on the breach of contract,

Even though the situation was outside his control , but the contract he signed stipulated that he will pay $50,000/ day of delay in the project which had unfortunately happened.

However , the damages can be reduced or even avoided if he sue for mitigated damage term