Linz v. Schuck

Citations

• 67 A. 286
• 106 Md. 220
• 1907 Md. LEXIS 98

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Consideration—Promise of Extra Pay to one who Refuses to Complete Contract — Substituted Agreement — Evidence.</p> <p>When one of the parties to a contract for the doing of certain work for a stipulated sum refuses, after part performance, to go on with the work, on account of substantial difficulties not foreseen at the time the contract was made, which would increase the cost of performance, a promise by the other party to pay an additional sum if the contractor will finish .the work is enforceable.</p> <p>In such case, it is not necessary that the original contract should be expressly rescinded, but the effect of the promise of extra pay and its acceptance is to substiiute a new and modified contract for the original agreement.*</p> <p>A merely moral obligation is not a consideration to support a promise.</p> <p>When defehdant promised a contractor for digging a cellar to pay, in addition to contract price, the extra cost of construction arising from the fact that soft mud was encountered under a crust of earth, evidence as to the sum paid by the contractor on this account is admissible in an action to recover the extra compensation.</p> <p>In such action, evidence is also admissible to show that certain payments made by the defendant were intended for a certain part of the work, and also to show the nature of the soil where the cellar was to be made.</p>