{"id":319,"date":"2012-07-29T22:44:43","date_gmt":"2012-07-30T03:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/?p=319"},"modified":"2012-07-29T22:44:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-30T03:44:43","slug":"use-disclaimers-if-you-want-to-prevent-your-e-mail-communications-from-turning-into-a-legally-binding-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/2012\/07\/use-disclaimers-if-you-want-to-prevent-your-e-mail-communications-from-turning-into-a-legally-binding-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Use disclaimers if you want to prevent your e-mail communications from turning into a legally binding contract."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Internet has already changed our lives and how we do business.&nbsp; A definition of a deal is also evolving! &nbsp;For better or worse, Massachusetts E-Sign law is changing the way we do transactions today.&nbsp; A Massachusetts case <em>Feldberg v. Coxall<\/em> (May 22, 2012) says that an email with an unsigned offer may create a binding agreement.&nbsp; In its decision, the court relied on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.malegislature.gov\/Laws\/GeneralLaws\/PartI\/TitleXV\/Chapter110G\">Uniform&nbsp;Electronic Transactions Act,&nbsp;Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 110G<\/a>. The main factors are the context and the surrounding circumstances of between the parties\u2019 communication.<\/p>\n<p>The case involved a real estate transaction consisting of an undeveloped property located in Sudbury, Massachusetts.&nbsp; Parties negotiated and the prospective buyer e-mailed an offer to the seller with definitive price tag in the amount of $475,000.00.&nbsp; Later, the prospective seller refused to sell the property.&nbsp; The issue was whether the emails reflected an offer and acceptance sufficient to show a present intent to be bound to the purchase and sale. &nbsp;The buyer sued.&nbsp; The buyer claimed that emails reflected the binding contractual agreement because it satisfied the Statute of Fraud requirements.&nbsp; See <em>Feldberg v. Coxall<\/em>.&nbsp; Under the Statute of Fraud, agreements involving land transaction must be signed.&nbsp; See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.malegislature.gov\/Laws\/GeneralLaws\">http:\/\/www.malegislature.gov\/Laws\/GeneralLaws<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>Essentially, the best way to prevent an unwanted contract from forming is to include a disclaimer in your e-mail correspondence stating that the e-mail exchange will not constitute a binding agreement unless signed in writing or stated otherwise.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Written by Margarita Smirnova, Esq.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a specific question relating to your business, please contact<br \/>\nMargarita<\/p>\n<p>Call: (617)875-8663<\/p>\n<p>E-mail: margarita.smirnova@gmail.com<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Internet has already changed our lives and how we do business.&nbsp; A definition of a deal is also evolving! &nbsp;For better or worse, Massachusetts E-Sign law is changing the way we do transactions today.&nbsp; A Massachusetts case Feldberg v. Coxall (May 22, 2012) says that an email with an unsigned offer may create a binding &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/2012\/07\/use-disclaimers-if-you-want-to-prevent-your-e-mail-communications-from-turning-into-a-legally-binding-contract\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Use disclaimers if you want to prevent your e-mail communications from turning into a legally binding contract.<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":291,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14,22,10,23,24,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.margaritasmirnovalaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}