Are you a victim of one of these types of contract breaches?

When two parties sign a contract, each expects the other to uphold their end of the deal in good faith. However, contracts are broken all the time due to breaches. These can be broken promises, failure to fulfill a quota, or simply not doing the job at all. 

The trick is to understand when you are the victim of a broken contract and what type of breach it was. This allows you to navigate the legal landscape of contracts, relying on professional assistance like these lawyers who practice business litigation in Redondo Beach. Here’s what you need to know. 

Anticipatory Breaches vs. Actual Breaches

These are the main two categories a breach falls under. Anticipatory breaches happen when one party lets the other know in advance that they will not be able to fulfill their promises. Anticipatory can be either illegitimate or lawful, depending on what the reason is behind the breach. 

An actual breach is when the other party simply refuses to uphold their end of the deal. This can also happen if they do not fully perform on the date previously agreed upon, like a painter only painting half of a room. 

There are actions to take in both cases, but it’s important to take the nature of anticipatory breaches into consideration. If there’s a valid, legitimate reason the contract cannot be fulfilled, along with an expressed desire to complete the job at a later date, then it might be in your and their benefit to be understanding of the situation. 

Minor Breach vs. Material Breach

In a material breach, one party receives something that is different from what they ordered. If you’ve ever bought something that was in a promised new condition on eBay but received something damaged, then you’ve been the victim of a material breach. 

Minor breaches, also called partial breaches, happen when a part of the contract was not fulfilled even though you received the service or item. This could include finishing a project a day late, a web designer forgot to add a line of text, or something else that is a minor aspect of the job. 

What You Can Do

If you are the victim of a contract breach, then you do have legal options available to you. In contracts, compensation comes in the form of damages. These can be in the form of compensatory, expectation, or consequential. 

Compensatory is simple. You receive the amount of money that compensates the breached part of the contract and covers your losses. Expectation damages cover what you did not get out of the contract, like expected overtime pay for hours worked that are not normally covered by your regular salary. Once they pay you on a given date, everything is square. 

Consequential damages, on the other hand, are somewhat difficult as they cover indirect damages. If a hair salon lost business because a box of color was not delivered, then damages must cover that lost business. However, these damages must be reasonable for everyone entering the contract. 

Kevin Thompson
 

Kevin is a business blogger with a focus on digital marketing and e-commerce. With over 5 years of experience covering the latest trends in the digital business world, Kevin has a reputation for being a knowledgeable, innovative and forward-thinking blogger. He has a keen understanding of the intersection between technology, digital marketing and e-commerce, and is able to explain the latest trends and strategies in a clear, actionable and relatable way.