A situation that many people face is having a friend, family member, or acquaintance offer to buy them out of an item. This can be for laptops, cars, houses, and everything in between.
Often times, people accept these offers because they do not want to hurt feelings or cause conflict. It can also seem awkward to say no when someone is offering you money for something you own.
However, this can lead to major problems down the road. A legal term called consideration means that there has to be an exchange of value between two parties.
If someone offers you $100 for your $600 laptop, then there is no consideration-there is no exchange of value between the two parties. This makes the transaction invalid and unenforceable in court.
Here is how it works…
Find that the contract was breached
If one party to a contract fails to live up to its terms, a court will usually find that the contract was breached and that the non-breaching party is owed some sort of compensation.
In the case of contracts for the sale of goods, the court will usually find that the price agreed upon in the contract is determinative of the value of the good.
So, if Rudy agrees to give Oscar $200 for his laptop valued at $600, and Oscar agrees to this price, then a court will probably find that Oscar received $400 worth of value from his laptop and must pay him $200 as compensation.
However, there are situations in which a court may not find that an aggrieved party received full value for a good. This may be due to flaws in the original contract or due to outside factors affecting market value.
Compensatory damages
If a court finds that the defendant committed a civil rights violation, it may order monetary compensation to the victim. This is known as compensatory damages.
Compensatory damages are designed to put the victim in the position he or she would have been in if the civil rights violation had not occurred.
So, if a court found that Rudy violated Oscar’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure of property, Oscar would probably be awarded monetary compensation to put him in the position he would have been in if Rudy had not taken his laptop.
However, because this is a difficult case to prove and because compensatory damages are discretionary, Oscar may not receive any. Nevertheless, he can still pursue punitive damages.
Nominal damages
If a court finds that the defendant violated a person’s property rights, but the victim did not suffer any actual financial loss as a result, the court can award what are called nominal damages.
These damages are a symbolic amount meant to show that the defendant violated the victim’s rights and to put pressure on the defendant to stop violating people’s rights.
For example, if Rudy took Oscar’s laptop without paying him for it, and Oscar did not use it for any other purpose and thus suffered no economic loss as a result, then a court may award him $200 in nominal damages.
But because he had to buy a new laptop at full price to do his job, he actually suffered an economic loss of $600 – so he could also ask for that amount in damages.
Exemplary damages
Exemplary damages are designed to punish the defendant and serve as a warning to other would-be thieves. They can range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars.
Exemplary damages are usually assessed in cases involving property damage or personal injury. In cases of theft, they are usually only assessed when the property is highly valuable (usually defined as over $5,000).
In most states, a victim must prove that the theft caused him or her financial hardship in order to be awarded exemplary damages. For example, if you prove that you had to pay several thousand dollars in medical bills due to the theft, you may be awarded additional money to compensate you for your loss.
The amount of exemplary damages awarded also depends on whether or not the defendant has a prior criminal record. If the defendant has no prior criminal record, the most that can be awarded is twice the value of the stolen property.
The court will determine the difference between the laptop’s value and the $200 offer
A court will determine whether the $200 offer is fair based on the difference between the laptop’s value and the $200 offer.
If the laptop is valued at $600 and Rudy offers Oscar $200 for it, a court will probably determine that the true value of the laptop is $400 and that Oscar should keep it.
Rudy would have to prove that his brother’s laptop was actually worthless in order for him to keep it. This would be difficult to do, as he would have to prove that there was some kind of flaw in it.
If Rudy offers Oscar $600 for his laptop valued at $600 and Oscar agrees, then he can keep it unless he can prove that there is some kind of flaw in it.
The court will probably find for Oscar and order Rudy to pay $400, the laptop’s value plus $200
Traditionally, if a thief offered a victim half the value of the stolen item and the victim accepted the offer, the victim could not go to court to recover the full value.
However, in most states, this rule does not apply when there is “proof of false compensation.” That means that if the thief offers less than what an item is worth, a court will probably find for the victim and order payment for the full value.
In this case, Rudy offered Oscar only $200 for his laptop valued at $600. Because Oscar accepted this offer, he may have difficulty recovering the full value in court. However, there may be other reasons why he could win his case.
There are some cases where a court will find for the victim even if they accepted an offer from a thief. These cases typically involve special circumstances that make it difficult for victims to resist temptation to take an offer.
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