Lonergan v. Scolnick

Facts

In March 1952, defendant placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper offering 40 acres of land for sale. In response to an inquiry from the plaintiff, the defendant sent a form letter to plaintiff dated March 26 describing the property and stating his rock bottom price was $2,500. On April 7, plaintiff wrote a letter saying he was not certain he had found the correct property, asking for a legal description, and suggesting a certain bank for escrow. On April 8, defendant responded that he believed plaintiff had found the property, provided a legal description, and advising the plaintiff he needed to act because defendant expected to have a buyer within the next week. On April 12, defendant sold the property to a third party. Plaintiff received defendant’s letter on April 14, and on April 15 he responded that he would immediately proceed to open the escrow and deposit $2,500 “in conformity with [defendant’s] offer,” and asking defendant to forward a deed with instructions to the escrow agent. On April 17, plaintiff started an escrow with $100 agreeing to furnish the remaining funds at a later date.