How Do I Know if a Material Breach Has Occurred?
Contracts are created every day among individuals and in the business world. Some contracts are negotiated by the parties, who bargain for what they want out of the transaction. Many other contracts are take-it-or-leave it contracts where a business creates a contract and a consumer can either agree to its terms or back out of the transaction. For example, a negotiated contract may be created when two different businesses bargain over the terms of a sale of raw materials for production, while a cell phone contract signed by a consumer is an example of a take-it-or-leave it contract.
In any contract that is signed, whether it is negotiated or not, the parties must abide by the terms of the agreement. Each party to a contract is legally bound to fulfill the obligations that are imposed by the agreement, regardless of whether he or she has actually read the provisions. A failure to fulfill any of the terms of the contract is considered a breach. Some breaches are more serious than others, and a material breach essentially undermines the entire agreement.
There are many remedies for a material breach, so you need to know if a material breach has occurred. A Las Vegas, NV business law attorney will review your agreement and the actions taken to help you determine whether a failure to perform constitutes a material breach. Call Pintar Albiston LLP today to schedule a consultation and learn more.
How Do You Know if a Material Breach Has Occurred?
To determine if a material breach has occurred, it is necessary to read the agreement carefully and to understand its purpose. A material breach is a failure to perform that goes to the heart of the contract. The breaching party does not perform the major duties imposed by the contract. The non-breaching party does not get what he or she bargained for when making the agreement. The entire contract is undermined and fixing the problem may be difficult for the party who was the victim of the breach.
A non-material breach, on the other hand, is much less serious. It involves a failure to perform on some of the perisperhal terms of the contract. For example, in a contract for a house to be painted, a failure to paint the entire house would be considered a material breach. A failure to paint only the mailbox attached to the house would be a non-material breach. In the first instance when no painting was done at all, the homeowner did not get the paint job which was the reason he entered into the contract.
Determining whether a material breach has occurred or not is very fact-specific. You need to carefully consider exactly what the other party did and failed to do and how significantly you were damaged. The remedies for a material breach may include broader monetary compensation and the right not to perform, so it is important to understand the extent of the breach. A Las Vegas, NV contract lawyer at Pintar Albiston LLP will help. Call today to schedule a consultation and learn more.