Reference no: EM132155997
John operates a motorcycle repair shop from his home but finds that his business is limited by the small size of his garage. Driving by a neighbor’s property, he notices a for-sale sign on a large metal-sided garage. John contacts the neighbour and offers to buy the building, hoping it can be dismantled and moved to his own property. The neighbour accepts John’s payment and makes a generous offer in return: if John will help him dismantle the garage, which will take a substantial amount of time, he will help John reassemble it after it has been transported to John’s property. They agree to have the entire job completed within two weeks. John spends every day for a week working with his neighbour to disassemble the building. In his rush to acquire a larger workspace he turns down several lucrative repair jobs. Once the disassembled building has been moved to John’s property, however, the neighbour refuses to help John reassemble it as he originally promised.
(a) Are the basic elements of contract present in the neighbor’s promise to help John reassemble the garage? Why or why not?
(b) Suppose that the neighbour starts to help John but then realises that, because of the layout of John’s property, putting the building back together will take much more work than dismantling it took. Under which principle of the law of contracts might the neighbour be allowed to ask for additional compensation and would he be likely to succeed, explaining why/why not, if the matter had to be decided by a court?
(c) What if John’s neighbour made his promise to help reassemble the garage at the time he and John were moving it to John’s property, saying “Since you helped me take it down, I will help you put it back up.” Would John be able to enforce this promise? Why or why not?
(d) Under what doctrine might John seek to recover the profits he lost when he turned down repair jobs for one week, evaluating whether he would be likely to succeed, explaining why/why not, if the matter had to be decided by a court?