3 Possible Remedies for a Contract Breach

October 22, 2018

A contract breach may be defined as the failure by one or more parties to fulfill conditions specified without any legal reason. A lot of factors have to be considered before it is determined. In courts, damages are often awarded, but there are also other ways to remedy a breach of contract.

Damages

The damages awarded to the offended party will depend on the nature of the breach. If it is determined that the conditions that were not met amount to a full breach, the plaintiff may be awarded damages equal to the total amount that would have been made had the contract been fully executed.

On the other hand, the contract can be termed as a partial breach, this means that the offended party may seek damages equal to what is required to correct the anomaly. In the case of a partial breach, courts may also decide to award an amount that is equal to the difference in actual value from the expected value.

Restitution

Unlike with damages, with restitution, the plaintiff does not seek to be compensated for any breach of the contract. In restitution, the offended party seeks to get back any money they had given to the defendant. This usually happens when the courts have deemed one party to be incompetent or incapable of delivering as promised.

Rescission and Reformation

Rescission is when one party seeks to have the contract terminated due to fraud, errors, or undue influence from outside. The party seeking rescission will request the contract to be set aside due to mistakes or fraud.

Reformation is done for the same reason. The difference between, rescission and reformation, is that in the later, the injured party seeks for a rewriting of the contract to correct the mistakes. Most courts, however, favor rescission over reformation since mistakes should have been captured during drafting.