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OVERVIEW: Reduced to its simplest form, a contract is nothing more than the exchange of mutual promises by two or more parties. The basic elements of a contract are an offer, an acceptance of the offer, and consideration for the offer. Consideration is a benefit or detriment that a party receives for making or accepting an offer. The most common form of consideration is the payment of money.
Contracts between individuals or businesses need not always be in writing and almost always deal with matters involving the purchase, sale, delivery or provision of goods or services. Contracts can be breached, intentionally or not, by either party. Sometimes through no fault of their own, performance under a contract is not possible either because of unplanned events or delays. A breach of contract can occur when either party fails to provide the agreed goods or services, fails to timely provide the agreed goods or services, or fails to timely pay for the agreed goods or services.
Since many contracts contain provisions for penalties in the event of a breach, it is very important that you thoroughly review the contract before signing it because the contract can be enforced in a Court of law. The failure to read the contract or to have a lawyer review the same before signing the contract is not a defense to the enforcement of the contract.
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