Contracts Keyed to Barnett
Ardente v. Horan
Facts
William and Katherine Horan (Defendants) offered to sell their property, and Ernest Ardente (Plaintiff) placed a bid of $250,000 for the property. After Defendants’ attorney said that the bid was acceptable, he forwarded to Plaintiff a purchase and sale agreement. After Plaintiff executed the agreement, Plaintiff’s attorney forwarded it back to Defendants along with a check for $20,000 and a letter asking if certain furniture and fixtures were a part of the agreement and requesting that they be. Defendants refused to have the furniture and fixtures be part of the agreements and returned to Plaintiff the unsigned purchase and sale agreement along with the $20,000 check. After Defendants refused to sell the property to Plaintiff, Plaintiff sued to seek specific performance. After ruling that Plaintiff’s letter constituted a conditional acceptance of Defendants’ offer and construing Plaintiff’s letter as a counteroffer, the trial judge granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Since the Defendants never accepted the counteroffer, no contract was formed as a matter of law. Plaintiff appealed.
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