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You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. Unconscionability (also known as Unconscientious Dealings) is a term used in contract law to describe a defense against the enforcement of a contract based on the presence of terms unfair to one party. Typically, such a contract is held to be unenforceable because the consideration offered is lacking or is so obviously inadequate that to enforce the contract would be unfair to the party seeking to escape the contract. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ...
A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ...
This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
Contract theory is the body of legal thought that investigates normative and conceptual problems in contract law. ...
Offer and acceptance analysis is a traditional approach in contract law used to determine whether an agreement exists between two parties. ...
The mailbox rule or the postal acceptance rule is a term of common law contracts which determines when a contract has been formed where the parties are communicating via the mail. ...
In the law of contracts, the mirror image rule states that an offer must be accepted exactly without modifications. ...
In contract law, an invitation to treat (invitation to bargain in the US) is an action by one party which may appear to be a contractual offer but which is actually inviting others to make an offer of their own. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Consideration under English law. ...
The capacity of both natural and artificial persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will. ...
Duress in the context of contract law is a common law defence, and if you are successful in proving that the contract is vitiated by duress, you can rescind the contract, since it is then voidable. ...
Undue influence (as a term in jurisprudence) is an equitable doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. ...
In contract law, an illusory promise is one that courts will not enforce. ...
The statute of frauds refers to a requirement in many common law jurisdictions that certain kinds of contracts, typically contractual obligations, be done in writing. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
A standard form contract (sometimes referred to as a contract of adhesion or boilerplate contract) is a contract between two parties that does not allow for negotiation, i. ...
An integration clause, in the contract law, is a term in the language of the contract that declares it to be the complete and final agreement between the parties. ...
In contract law a mistake is incorrect understanding by one or more parties to a contract and may be used as grounds to invalidate the agreement. ...
In contract law, a misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made by one party to another party and has the effect of inducing that party into the contract. ...
Frustration of purpose is a term used in the law of contracts to describe a defense to an action for non-performance based on the occurance of an unforseen event which makes performance impossible or commercially impracticable. ...
Modal logic, or (less commonly) intensional logic is the branch of logic that deals with sentences that are qualified by modalities such as can, could, might, may, must, possibly, and necessarily, and others. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
An illegal agreement, under the common law of contract, is one that the courts will not enforce because the purpose of the agreement is to achieve an illegal end. ...
Accord and satisfaction is the purchase of the release from a debt obligation. ...
An assignment is a term used with similar meanings in the law of contracts and in the law of real estate. ...
Delegation is a term used in the law of contracts to describe the act of giving another person the responsibility of carrying out the performance agreed to in a contract. ...
Novation is a term used in contract law and business law to describe the act of either replacing an obligation to perform with a new obligation, or replacing a party to an agreement with a new party. ...
A third party beneficiary, in the law of contracts, is a person who may have the right to sue on a contract, despite not having originally been a party to the contract. ...
Breach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other partys performance. ...
Anticipatory repudiation (or anticipatory breach) is a term in the law of contracts that describes a declaration by one party (the promissing party) to a contract that they do not intend to live up to their obligations under the contract. ...
Cover is a term used in the law of contracts to describe a remedy available to a merchant buyer who has received an anticipatory repudiation of a contract for the receipt of goods. ...
An exclusion clause is a term in a contract that seeks to restrict the rights of the parties to the contract. ...
Fundamental breach, sometimes known as a repudiatory breach, is a breach so fundamental that it permits the aggrieved party to terminate performance of the contract, in addition to entitling that party to sue for damages. ...
In the law of remedies, a specific performance is a demand of a party to perform a specific act. ...
Liquidated damages is a term use in the law of contracts to describe a contractual term which establishes damages to be paid to one party if the other party should breach the contract. ...
Penal damages are best seen as quantitatively excessive liquidated damages and are invalid under the common law. ...
In contract law, rescission (to rescind or set aside a contract) refers to the cancellation of the contract between the parties. ...
International private law, private international law or conflict of laws is the branch of private law which regulates lawsuits involving foreign laws or jurisdictions. ...
Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. ...
In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ...
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions) and in personal property, within the common law legal system. ...
In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ...
The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ...
Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of common law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ...
The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ...
A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ...
A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Consideration under English law. ...
In and of itself, inadequate consideration is likely not enough to make a contract unenforceable. However, a court of law will consider evidence that one party to the contract took advantage of its superior bargaining power to insert provisions that make the agreement overwhelmingly favor the interests of that party. Usually for a court to find a contract unconscionable the party claiming unconscionability will have to prove both that there was a problem with the substance of the contract and the process through which that contract was formed. The substantive problem will usually be the consideration, but could also be the terms, interest payments, or other obligations the court finds unfair. Procedural issues that a court could consider include a party's lack of choice, superior bargaining position or knowledge, and other circumstances surrounding the bargaining process. This article is about courts of law. ...
Upon finding unconscionability a court has a great deal of flexibility on how it remedies the situation. It may refuse to enforce the contract, refuse to enforce the offending clause, or take other measures it deems necessary to have a fair outcome. Damages are usually not awarded.
Typical scenarios There are several typical scenarios in which unconscionability is most frequently found: - Where a party that typically engages in sophisticated business transactions inserts boilerplate language into a contract containing terms unlikely to be understood or appreciated by the average person. Such terms might include a disclaimer of warranties, or a provision extending liability for a newly purchased item to goods previously purchased from the same seller.
- Where a seller offers a contract of adhesion for the purchase of necessary goods (e.g. food, shelter, means of transportation).
- Where a seller is vastly inflating the price of goods, particularly where this inflation is conducted in a way that conceals from the buyer the total cost for which the buyer will be liable.
For the defense of unconscionability to apply, the contract has to have been unconscionable at the time that it was made - later circumstances that have the effect of making the contract extremely one-sided are irrelevant. An interesting aspect of unconscionability is that the determination is made by the judge, not by a jury, despite the fact that such a determination is very fact-intensive. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
In business law, a warranty is a promise that something sold is as factually stated or legally implied by the seller. ...
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A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ...
A jury is a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial verdict and a finding of fact on a legal question officially submitted to them, or to set a penalty or judgment in a jury trial of a court of law. ...
Case law
English case law The leading case on this point is considered to be the English case of Lloyd's Bank v. Bundy. In that case, Bundy had agreed to increase the mortgage on his house in order to maintain the credit line being extended to his son's business. The English Court of Appeal ruled that as Bundy received no direct benefit from the agreement to increase the mortgage amount, and that the bank had threatened to call in the son's loan if Bundy had not agreed to the extension, and that the amount of the loan was already higher than the existing mortgage, that the transaction was unconscionable and Bundy only had to honor the lower mortgage. Essentially, the court ruled that only the bank benefitted from the agreement to raise the amount of the mortgage. Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001...
A mortgage is a method of using property as security for the payment of a debt. ...
A credit limit is the maximum amount of credit that a bank or other lender will extend to a debtor, or the maximum that a credit card company will allow a card holder to borrow on a single card. ...
Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords above it. ...
Canadian case law In a Canadian case, a member of the First Nations was allowed to rescind a contract for the sale of his boat and fishing license for a nominal amount. The boat was worthless but, unknown to the native, his fishing license was worth a great deal of money, and could have been mortgaged to finance a new boat. The court ruled that the buyer was merely trying to take advantage of the seller's lack of knowledge of the value of the license and refused to allow the contract to be enforced. Carved mask in Vancouver First Nations is a term for ethnicity used in Canada to replace the word Indian. It refers to the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. ...
However, sorely inadequate consideration in and of itself is not a determination of whether a transaction is unconscionable. For example, in an Ontario case, a property owner agreed to sell an option for the sale of his property for the sum of $1.00. The owner later learned that options to purchase property usually sell for more than nominal sums. The court enforced the contract in favor of the option holder, ruling that the negotiations over the price of the option and the price the option holder would pay for the house if he chose to buy were both fairly negotiated and that the seller had adequate opportunity to investigate the market and simply did not do so. Welcome! Hello, Ontario, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. ...
In finance, an option is a contract whereby one party (the holder or buyer) has the right but not the obligation to exercise a feature of the contract (the option) on or before a future date (the exercise date or expiry). ...
Australian case law The leading Australian case is Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v. Amadio (1983) 151 CLR 447. In this case, an elderly Italian couple with little command of English secured their son's debts arising from his failing business. Their son misled them as to the extent of the guarantee, and the bank did nothing to explain it to the parents. When the son's business failed, the Amadios had the contract set aside due to unconscionable dealing by the bank. Key elements that were relied upon were: - The parties must meet on unequal terms, such that one party has a disability vis a vis the other party, through such things as infirmity, age and language.
- The stronger party knows of the special disability, or should have been aware of the special disability, and takes advantage of it.
- The stronger party obtains a bargain which would be unconscionable to retain.
Legislation
United States legislation In the United States, the concept is established in Section 2-302 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is one of the uniform acts that has been promulgated in attempts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in the fifty state in the United States of America. ...
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