Is a Verbal Acceptance Legally Binding?

[stdent9972]

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Hi everyone:

I'm a soon to be dental student, but I wanted to ask people's advice here, due to the complications of my problem.



An admissions officer called to tell me I was accepted about 10 days ago. (A week ago, last Tuesday)

Well, I've waited and waited and the acceptance letter still hasn't arrived. I just left voice mail and emailed them. The deadline, I believe is next Tues or Wed.

I'm getting really worried. All previous correspondence only took 4-5 days, tops. Perhaps they forgot to send it or worse, perhaps they forgot that I was going to take the spot and sent the letter to the next person down the list.

Does anyone think that I may actually lose my spot? Do you think it's possible I'll call monday and she'll say sorry, but we gave your spot to someone else? Can this happen? Is there any sort of legal recourse on a verbal acceptance?

This school has also made a previous mistake with me. They sent me a letter on May 1st saying that they received my notice of withdrawal, which I never sent!! Thus, I called them promptly and got myself reinstated.

Whew!! Thanks!

 

[dr. deez]

don't panic. if an admissions officer called you you are in. just call the office on monday and double check but you should be fine.

 

[phar]

maybe the admission office is on crack.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Obviously they are disorganized if they sent you an acknowledgement of a withdrawal you never made. Call them and ask them to fax you the offer in writing ASAP. You can explain that you don't want to miss the deadline.

I don't think you have any legal recourse over a verbal acceptance, but hopefully you won't need it. Have you let go of another acceptance? Hopefully, either you didn't or your new school will come through with the written offer.

 

[group_theory]

Originally posted by VienneseWaltz

I don't think you have any legal recourse over a verbal acceptance

Hmmm - it's been a while since I had contract law

BUT I think it is legally binding. Just because it is not in writing doesn't mean it is not enforceable. The burden is to show that there was an oral contract in the first place.

Since this does not involve the sale of goods, the writing requirements will be based on the Statue of Frauds and Common Law. Suretyship, Real Estate, Marriage, and actions cannot be done w/in ONE year - requires a written contract.

I don't think an offer of acceptance falls under any of those circumstances. So a verbal offer of acceptance and a verbal reply of accepting the acceptance is the same as a written letter of acceptance and a letter of reply IN COURT. However, you must show that a verbal agreement did exist and also take into account other factors such as state laws, the school's bylaws, considerations, etc.

But to answer the subject question - "Is a verbal acceptance legally binding?" - my GUESS is yes.

 

[whitecoat]

I would call the admission office for confirmation. It could be that your acceptance letter was lost in the mail. It's better to find out early and let them know that you are concerned about the deadline.

 

[wolferman]

I'd like to add to what group_theory said regarding contract law.

The type of situation described by the OP falls under Common Law. According to what I learned in my Law & Economics course, a contract is binding when there are 3 main elements: An Offer, Acceptance, and Consideration. Obviously the first two were addressed, namely the admissions officer offered an acceptance and you accepted. However, until "consideration" is made, the contract isn't binding. This is why people often give a person $1 at the time of sale. This counts as consideration and makes the contract binding. Basically, the accepting party has given something up and would be losing something were the deal to break.

A memorable example from my textbook was the case where an uncle offers you a trip around the world as reward for graduating from high school. You accept his offer and go out and spend $400 on luggage the next day. He later tries to back out of the verbal contract. However, since you invested money in the belief that the contract would hold, you performed an act of consideration, and the contract is binding.

So, to stdent9972 I would say, make sure you have performed an act of consideration. Such an act would include but not be limited to purchasing a plane ticket to the school, putting a down payment on an apartment, or withdrawing your applications at other schools. Those examples are pretty expensive though, so I would try something cheaper, but equally binding in the eyes of the law. Best wishes.

 

[group_theory]

Actually, I want to clarify some stuff

Consideration is legal detriment bargained for in exchange, i.e. agreeing to do something which you have no legal obligation to do or agreeing not to do something which you have a legal right to do. The fairness of the deal (selling 100 acres of land for $1) is not an issue - as long as there is consideration.

Spending $400 on luggage is not consideration since that was never part of the original contract. Your consideration is agreeing to graduate or graduating, which you were not legally obligated to do (unless your state requires you to graduate from high school).

In the above example, the uncle's offer is a unilateral contract. A unilateral contract is one in which there is a promise to pay or give other consideration in return for actual performance. (I will pay you $500 to fix my car by Thursday; the performance is fixing the car by that date.) A bilateral contract is one in which a promise is exchanged for a promise. (I promise to fix your car by Thursday and you promise to pay $500 on Thursday.)

The contract is made by you graduating, not by you agreeing to graduate. Therefore, until you perform the act of graduation, no contract was ever made. A contract is not legally binding if no consideration is made. However, since a contract was never made, consideration is a moot point.

BUT then why did the courts enforce the promise? There is a tool that the courts can use to correct injustice called promissory estoppel. Promissory estoppel is used where, although there may not otherwise be a enforceable contract, because one party has relied on the promise of the other, it would be unfair not to enforce the agreement.

Hehe - sorry to the OP for the thread highjacking. I guess you shouldn't have used "legally binding" in the original question 😉

Watch as a contract law lawyer slap us silly for not knowing what we are talking about

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Originally posted by group_theory

But to answer the subject question - "Is a verbal acceptance legally binding?" - my GUESS is yes.

This is a fascinating discussion--thanks, group_theory and wolferman. What I said, though, was that I didn't think he had legal recourse. What I was thinking, but did not write, is that the school would just deny having offered the acceptance. So even if the verbal offer was binding, it wouldn't do much good in court--as gt said, the OP would have to prove the offer was made, and with an admissions office that disorganized, they might honestly think they had called someone else and deny the whole thing. If a candidate could get a court to force a school to provide admission without concrete proof that an offer had taken place, it would seem that other applicants could game the system by merely claiming that someone from Harvard called and offered an admission but never followed up with a letter.

I know NOTHING about law, in case it's not obvious (I wish I knew more)--the bottom line is that I hope the written offer arrives in the mail soon!

 

[tBw]

Not to belittle the OPs question (and I have no input not knowing a thing about the legality) but does no on else find it even remotely amusing that a pre-dental student posts on a pre-med board about a law question!

It just reminds me of National Lampoons Animal House at the end when someone states they are pre-law and their friend replies "I thought you were pre-med" and the reply is "Whats the difference?" (ok, I know some of the people on here were lawyers in past lives but still....) 😉

 

[stdent9972]

so what's the verdict then? Is it binding or not?

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Originally posted by stdent9972
so what's the verdict then? Is it binding or not?

Seriously, don't get legal advice from an Internet forum.

 

[JlazyMD]

I have heard of cases in college admissions where they mailed a kid an acceptance letter instead of a rejection. They apologized to the kid, but he still didn't get to go there. So whatever the legal ramifications, I don't think they include the ability to change your accepted/rejected status because of clerical error. I wouldn't worry too much though, it sounds like they are just disorganized and you will get your admissions packet soon.