Brian McDonald spent his time away from work on his hobby, model trains. His tra

Question

Brian McDonald spent his time away from work on his hobby, model trains. His train set was large and consisted of rare and one-of-a-kind trains. One day, while visiting with fellow train hobbyist Harry, Brian said, "When I retire in 2 years from Foodmart, I'm going to sell my trains and spend the rest of my life traveling on real trains." Brian told Harry that he was the only person he planned to offer his trains to, because he knew Harry would take care of them. Harry said he looked forward to the day when he could by the trains. Harry spent the next 2 years and most of his savings building a new 2,000-square foot room onto his house to make room for the trains. When Harry told Brian he was building the new room, Brian just smiled. Brian also heard that Harry borrowed money from his aunt to buy the trains. When Brian retired, he sold his trains to his neighbor, James. Harry sued Brian, claiming breach of contract, or in the alternative, for promissory estoppel. Who wins? Explain your answer.-

Explanation / Answer

I was worried that you're question wouln't be answered because information was missing. I got this from Yahoo ... For a contract to be valid, there would have to be exchange of consideration. Harry gave nothing of value to Brian and it is not even clear that Brian made any promise - only a statement of present intent for entering future contracts. There was no contract. Brian was aware of Harry's "change of position", based upon Brian's earlier statements, but that would be insufficient to create a "promissory estoppel" if Brian never made any promise to Harry. Had Brian said, "Harry, you can buy my trains when I retire," and Harry made expensive preparations, that would have been different, although Brian would still have no particular obligation to even POSSESS any trains when he retired, let alone sell them to Harry for a particular price at that time. The material terms were never agreed, Brian never had any specific or enforceable obligation, Harry's actions were at his own risk (knowing he had no promise from Brian and that he had not promised anything in exchange), Brian obtained no benefits from Harry's premature preparations, and Harry will lose on each of his claims.

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