Melisa Horton Page 1

Unit 6







Melisa Horton
LS311 Business Law I
Unit Six: Contracts: Completed
Breach of Contracts and Specific Performance
October 30, 2012












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Unit 6
This Unit's Assignment has you take a look at situations for which the court may grant
specific performance as a remedy for a breach of contract.
Take a look at the following four scenarios. In which of these situations might a court grant
specific performance as a remedy for the breach of the contract? Explain.
Specific Performance An equitable remedy requiring exactly the performance that was
specified; usually granted only when monetary damages would be an inadequate remedy and
the subject matter of the contract is unique (Miller & Jentz, 2008, pg. G-18). Specific
performance is used most often with real estate contracts and contracts for sale of rare items.
The purpose of this remedy is to make the non breaching party whole or as close as possible to
whole. Rare art or unique personal items would be subject to specific performance. This remedy
can only be decided by a court, even when there is a clause in the contract that states that a
breach can only be remedied by specific performance. If there is a valid contract, breach of this
contract, lack of adequate defense to the breach, insufficient ability for monetary damages to
make damaged party whole and practicality of the enforcement of the order; a court could rule
for specific performance.

Scenario 1
Tarrington contracts to sell her house and lot to Rainier. Then, on finding another buyer
willing to pay a higher purchase price, she refuses to deed the property to Rainier.
There is a difference between an offer and a contract. The scenario states that Tarrington
contracts to sell her house which means that she and Rainier had a contract or agreement.
The fact that Tarrington found a buyer willing to pay her more for her house and land does not
enable her to break or breach her contract with Rainier. The only remedy that will make Rainier
whole would be specific performance since monetary damages will not provide her with the
house and land from this contract. I believe that a court would award specific performance to
Rainier and force Tarrington to sell the house to Rainier for the price contracted.

Scenario 2
Marita contracts to sing and dance in Horaces nightclub for one month, beginning June 1.
She then refuses to perform.
This contract is for personal services. Courts do not generally award specific performance for
personal services contracts because, to order a party to perform personal services against his or
her will amounts to a type of involuntary servitude, which is contrary to the public policy
expressed in the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, the courts do not
want to monitor contracts for personal services (Miller & Jentz, 2008, pg. 247). In this case I
would expect the court to award monetary damages to Horace since there is really no way to
force Marita to sing if she does not want to. She could get on stage and be terrible on purpose
and make him lose business. This case would not be awarded specific performance by a court.
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Unit 6
Scenario 3
Juan contracts to purchase a rare coin from Edmund, who is breaking up his coin
collection. At the last minute, Edmund decides to keep his coin collection intact and refuses
to deliver the coin to Juan.
In this case, Juan entered into an agreement with Edmund to sell him a rare coin. He cannot
easily go and buy this same coin elsewhere. Edmund deciding to change his mind does not
substantiate his breach of contract. A court could use specific performance to force Juan to sell
the coin to Edmund as agreed upon.

Scenario 4
Astro Computer Corp. has three shareholders. Among them are Coase, who owns 48%,
and Cary, who owns 4%. Cary contracts to sell his 4% to DeValle but later refuses to
transfer the shares to him.


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Unit 6
References
Miller, R., & Jentz, G. (2008). Fundamentals of Business Law part1. In R. Miller, & G. Jentz,
Fundamentals of Business Law part1. Boston: Cengage.