Illegal activites and breach of contract or fraud

Illegal activites and breach of contract or fraud

cairpre409@yahoo.com (Patrick Cairpre)	1/29/2004 11:22:19 PM
Can failure to perform an illegal act ever be a breach of contract or fraud? For example, years ago someone put an ad in the paper "1 lbs grass for $20". People send in their money and got lawn clipping in return. Clearly they expected something else. Or if someone had a business selling 100 % guaranteed prison escape plans to convicts, but sent copies to the warden also, so they would no longer work. Or an escort service that charges the customer who believes they will get sex, but the sex never happens. I do not think illegal activities are enforcable in a contract, so there should be no breach of contract issue. The fraud issue I am not so sure about. Can suggesting that you would commit an illegal act for money and then not doing it fraud. Could you really put out an ad; "Murderer for hire" or "Sex slaves for sale" and then be put in jail for not delivering on the offered product or service? I am just curious.



"Richard"	1/30/2004 10:01:04 AM
Patrick Cairpre wrote: Can failure to perform an illegal act ever be a breach of contract or fraud? For example, years ago someone put an ad in the paper "1 lbs grass for $20". People send in their money and got lawn clipping in return. Clearly they expected something else. Or if someone had a business selling 100 % guaranteed prison escape plans to convicts, but sent copies to the warden also, so they would no longer work. Or an escort service that charges the customer who believes they will get sex, but the sex never happens. I do not think illegal activities are enforcable in a contract, so there should be no breach of contract issue. The fraud issue I am not so sure about. Can suggesting that you would commit an illegal act for money and then not doing it fraud. Could you really put out an ad; "Murderer for hire" or "Sex slaves for sale" and then be put in jail for not delivering on the offered product or service? I am just curious. As P T BArnum once said, "There is a sucker born every minute" and he made a fortune on the culpability of people. If some idiot wants to sell grass in a newspaper, and he gets business,who's the real idiot? While it is a common belief that escort services provide more than just companionship, there are those services that do not. If you believe that an advertisement for a product or service is something illegal, and that is what you want, then you should seek help professionally. There can no breach of contract because the contract was fuliflled.



"David Martel"	1/30/2004 5:02:42 PM
Pat, You may enter into a contract for something that is illegal. Such contracts can be breached. The difficulty arises in enforcing such a contract or recovering damages. The courts in the USA will not consider illegal contracts, so you can't turn to them for help. Thus, as an example, if you wish to lend money at a usurious rate you must be prepared to enforce the contract. If the borrower fails to make payments you must break his arm. Your other question seems to be whether it is illegal to advertise illegal services if you do not intend to deliver the services. I suspect that you would be investigated by the police. It's likely that they would not believe your claim of not offering the service that you advertise. Dave M.



"McGyver"	1/30/2004 5:44:06 PM
"Patrick Cairpre" <cairpre409@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:aba9f5d4.0401292322.53c42260@posting.google.com... Can failure to perform an illegal act ever be a breach of contract or fraud? If you breach a contract by failure to do an illegal act, that's still a breach. But U.S. Courts won't enforce the contract for either party. The fact that you got away with a breach doesn't change the fact that there was a breach. But the issue becomes academic if neither party can successfully sue to enforce the contract. (There are some convoluted academic examples where the breach of one contract might be relevant evidence in a case concerning a different contract, causing unpleasant consequences for the breaching party.) Fraud is different. If you enter into a contract with no intent to perform it, the other party relies on your false promise, and is damaged as a result of that reliance, that person can successfully sue you for fraud. The fact that you breached the contract may be technically true, but breach is not an element of a fraud case. Evidence concerning the breach is not relevant or admissable. However, evidence that the plaintiff was damaged by the false promise and reliance is relevant and admissable. If a court finds that fraud was committed, it will be no defense to say that you couldn't have legally performed on your false promise. .. . . Could you really put out an ad; "Murderer for hire" or "Sex slaves for sale" and then be put in jail for not delivering on the offered product or service? You would not be put in jail for any breach of contract. Breach is not a criminal matter, and jail doesn't result. In your example (with additional facts) you could be put in jail for fraud. Not because you failed to deliver, but because you made a false statement with the intent that a victim rely on it, and the victim relied, and was damaged as a result of that reliance. McGyver

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