A South Carolina seller lists her home in Lexington and receives a written offer from a buyer. The seller signs the offer with a handwritten note in the margin stating 'accepted, subject to my attorney reviewing and approving the contract within 5 business days.' The buyer's agent notifies the buyer of the seller's signature. The seller's attorney later disapproves the contract on day 3. The buyer claims a binding contract was formed when the seller signed. Which analysis is most accurate under South Carolina law?
Correct Answer
D) No binding contract was formed because the seller's response added a new condition, making it a counteroffer
Under the mirror-image rule applied in South Carolina, an acceptance must match the offer exactly. The seller's response added a material new condition — attorney approval within 5 business days — that was not in the buyer's original offer. This addition transforms the seller's response into a counteroffer, not an acceptance. A counteroffer rejects the original offer and proposes new terms; no binding contract exists until the buyer accepts the counteroffer. Because the attorney disapproved before the buyer could accept the counteroffer, no binding contract was ever formed.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
An inspection contingency gives the buyer the right to have the property professionally inspected within a specified time frame and to negotiate repairs or cancel the contract based on the findings.
Liquidated damages are a predetermined amount of money specified in the contract that the non-breaching party is entitled to receive if the other party breaches. In real estate, the earnest money deposit typically serves as liquidated damages.
Novation is the substitution of a new contract for an existing one, or the replacement of one party with a new party, with the consent of all parties involved. The original party is completely released from all obligations.
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