discuss Commitments of a buyer and seller

[NameFit]

We all do our transactions mostly through electronic media - and mostly through email. I wanted to hear reader's thoughts on the extent of 'commitment' one is bound by as a seller or a buyer while using email. Can the reneging(backing out) possibly lead to legal implications.

 

[gilescoley]

There is no legal commitment with an email, it happens all the time

Just take it a as a learning experience and move on

 

[vdonline]

There is no legal commitment with an email, it happens all the time

I don't know about your country, but an email is counted as legal commitment here. Except when the email address was hacked.

 

[PuSin]

I suppose email is a part of legal commitment and can be produced as evidence against you in a court of law....excepting of course hacking/cyber attacks!

 

[gilescoley]

I don't know about your country, but an email is counted as legal commitment here. Except when the email address was hacked.

yeah they say that in a lot of countries but see how many of them hold up in court, if they have get to a court case that is

 

[vdonline]

yeah they say that in a lot of countries but see how many of them hold up in court, if they have get to a court case that is

In my personal experience, all emails between me and a customer from oversea were collected by the police. If I hadn't kept the emails, I could lose.

 

[equity78]

In May 2011, while the civil procedure of the litigation progressed, a representative of Gelco’s insurer, Brenda Greene, offered Forcelli’s counsel $230,000 to settle the case. Forcelli’s counsel orally accepted the offer on behalf of Forcelli. That same day, Greene sent an email message to Forcelli’s counsel stating the following:

Per our phone conversation today, May 3, 2011, you accepted my offer of $230,000 to settle this case. Please have your client executed [sic] the attached Medicare form as no settlement check can be issued without this form. You also agreed to prepare the release. . .Please forward the release and dismissal for my review. Thanks Brenda Greene.

The next day, Forcelli signed a release, notarized by his counsel, stating that he was releasing Gelco from all actions involving the accident in exchange for $230,000. However, just a few days later, on May 10, 2011, the New York Supreme Court (i.e., the trial-level court) issued an order granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of Gelco and dismissing all of Forcelli’s claims asserted against Gelco. Gelco tried to reject the settlement claiming the email message did not constitute a binding written settlement agreement, but the Supreme Court ruled against Gelco and entered a judgment ordering Gelco to pay Forcelli $230,000. In response, Gelco appealed to the New York Appellate Division.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverherzfeld/2013/12/09/are-your-emails-enforceable-contracts/


Much of today’s business is conducted via e-mail, and it’s possible to bind yourself to a contract through e-mail, either deliberately or inadvertently.

If an e-mail or chain of e-mails clearly states an offer for entering into a deal with all of the material terms and the other side responds by e-mail accepting the terms, then there’s a good chance that a valid contract has been formed — even though no signatures have been exchanged. So be careful. If all you intend is to negotiate the issues leading to a formal written and signed contract accepted by both parties, make sure you say that in your e-mails.

In addition, in June 2000, President Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, which set a single national standard for using electronic signatures in contracts and other legal agreements. The law allows businesses to send copies of signed documents electronically and to store archived copies of these documents in electronic form. Although there are certain exceptions, many routine commercial transactions are covered under this law. The law even allows for the electronic notarization of legal documents.

http://www.allbusiness.com/can-an-e-mail-agreement-be-a-binding-contract-2378-1.html

 

[gilescoley]

Yeah but try locate someone if they back out of a deal and they are using a yahoo or hotmail address and they live on the other side of the world

If you really want security, you are better off getting to sign a legal contract