Livingston v. Evans (1925)

Livingston v. Evans
4 D.L.R. 769 (1925)

Facts: Evans offered to sell land through his agent in to Livingstone for $1,800. Livingstone wired back an offer of $1,600 or requested Evan’s lowest cash price. Evans’s agent replied that that the price was firm. Livingston then sent a wire accepting the initial offer. In the mean time, Evans had already agreed to sell the property to another party.

Issue: Does a counter offer cancel an offer.

Holding: Yes.

Decision/Rationale: (Walsh, J.) The plaintiff’s telegram was undoubtedly a counter-offer. The difficulty arose in this case from the defendant’s reply telegram which stated “cannot reduce price.” With some doubt, the court held that this language constituted a renewal of the offer, which bound the defendant by the plaintiff’s subsequent acceptance. Therefore, there was a binding contract for the sale of land to the plaintiff and he was entitled to specific performance.

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