An offer made by a car dealer, Brad Benson, to give a Florida pastor, Terry Jones, a new car if he abstains from burning a Quran can be considered a valid contract. An advertisement issued by the offeror was a demonstration of willingness to enter into a contract that included certain terms; therefore, an element of a valid contract titled ‘offer’ was present in the case. Given that the offer was clearly defined “with no matters open for negotiation” (Law, n.d., para. 4), its acceptance completed the contract.
An acceptance of the offer was expressed by Jones when he contacted the offeror in order to claim the car (Brad Benson Hyundai, 2010). Taking into consideration the fact that Benson had not requested a notice of intended performance, the offeror accepted the contract when he learned of the forbearance. Another element of a valid contract that was present in Benson’s offer is consideration. This element took a form of the car, which was an adequate form of consideration. Furthermore, the offeree was not legally bounded to abstain from burning the Quran, which means that his forbearance to perform the act also represented a valid form of consideration.
The advertisement did not stipulate that the offeror had a right to cancel the obligation; therefore, the agreement was mutually binding. Since mutuality of obligation was present in the offer, it can be argued that the contract was enforceable.
The case under discussion contained the key elements of a legally enforceable promise. The promise was oral and satisfied the requirements of offer, consideration, acceptance, and mutuality of obligation, which means that the offeree was right in claiming the car upon forbearing from performing the act of burning the Quran.
References
Law. (n.d.). Contracts: Elements of a contract. Web.
Brad Benson Hyundai. (2010). Time for a new International Idiot Award! [Video file]. Web.