Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editors' preface
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Abbreviations
- Note on translations of foreign language statutory provisions
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Case studies
- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop
- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease
- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold
- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise; parallel negotiations
- Case 5 A broken engagement
- Case 6 An express lock-out agreement
- Case 7 Breakdown of merger negotiations
- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant
- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend
- Case 10 Public bidding
- Case 11 A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality
- Case 12 Confidential design information given during negotiations
- Case 13 Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity
- 3 From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel
- 4 A law and economics perspective on precontractual liability
- 5 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Case 11 - A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editors' preface
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Abbreviations
- Note on translations of foreign language statutory provisions
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Case studies
- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop
- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease
- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold
- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise; parallel negotiations
- Case 5 A broken engagement
- Case 6 An express lock-out agreement
- Case 7 Breakdown of merger negotiations
- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant
- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend
- Case 10 Public bidding
- Case 11 A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality
- Case 12 Confidential design information given during negotiations
- Case 13 Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity
- 3 From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel
- 4 A law and economics perspective on precontractual liability
- 5 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Case 11
After negotiations, A and B reach agreement on the sale of A's house to B, but do not comply with the formality requirements necessary within their legal system to make the contract valid. B does not know of the formality requirements. Soon afterwards, A tells B that, because of the lack of formality, he (A) is not bound. B has already incurred expenses in coming to the agreement (such as estate agents' fees and travel expenses). B complains that this was the house of his dreams, and he will now only be able to find a less satisfactory property, given the properties available in the market. What liability (in contract, tort, restitution, or any other form of liability), if any, does A have to B? Does it make a difference if:
A knew of the formality requirements?
A is a professional?
B raised the question of the formality requirements at the time the agreement was concluded, but A misled him about it?
Discussions
Austria
It is not entirely certain whether these facts would constitute a case of precontractual liability.
Under Austrian law a party is expected to know the law. §2 ABGB states that ‘[a]s soon as a law has been properly published, no one may be excused on the ground that he had no knowledge of it’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Precontractual Liability in European Private Law , pp. 311 - 335Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009