Court Opinion

ID: 9702586
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:18:02.18533+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:39.252334
License: Public Domain

*579YEAGLEY, Associate Judge
(concurring).
I cannot agree with the holding in the majority opinion that appellant’s identical letters of February 9th to each appellee and the acknowledgments made thereon by appellees constituted written contracts. However, I concur in the result for reasons stated herein.
The promises of each appellee in the acknowledgment, to protect the money due appellant, are clearly unilateral and unsupported by any consideration in appellant’s letter. The appellant neither offered nor promised not to file a mechanic’s lien but quite to the contrary, without qualification, advised appellees in the letters that if the prime contractor does not pay “we will file a Mechanic’s Lien against this property.”
Since these writings between the parties do not reflect any benefit flowing to the promisor or any detriment to the promisee I must disagree with the majority’s view of this case as summarized in the following portion of the opinion:
We hold, therefore, that the effect of appellees’ breach of the agreement, which we have culled from the letters of February 9, 1968, and the acknowledgments made thereon, was to impose upon both appellees liability for the loss flowing from appellant’s forbearance to file a mechanic’s lien.
However, even though appellant made no offer or promise to forbear filing a lien, the totality of the facts and circumstances indicate quite clearly that the appellees unilaterally promised to protect the appellant in order to induce it not to file a mechanic’s lien. When the appellant responded by letting the lien period expire its act of forbearance became complete thereby providing sufficient consideration to support appellees’ promises to protect appellant. The interest of the appellees in not having a lien filed against the property is well expressed in the majority opinion. See note 3, supra.
It is generally recognized that “[fjorbearance for a reasonable time if requested is a sufficient consideration even though no promise of forbearance is made, a unilateral contract being as good as a bilateral.” Pullman Co. v. Ray, 201 Md. 268, 94 A.2d 266 (1953) citing I Williston, Contracts § 136 (Rev.ed.1936). Otherwise expressed, “ * * * it is enough if it is to be inferred from the circumstances that there was an implied request for forbearance for a time, and that such forbearance was in fact extended in compliance with the request.” McDonald Brothers Co. v. Koltes, 155 Minn. 24, 27, 192 N.W. 109, 110 (1923). Quoted with approval in Phenix Nat. Bank of Providence v. Raia, 68 R.I. 348, 28 A.2d 20, 23 (1942).
In Combe v. Combe, [1951] 2 K.B. 215 (1950), the court while failing to find evidence of a request for forbearance, recognized the proposition that unilateral promises have long been enforced so long as the act or forbearance is done on the faith of the promise and at the request of the promisor, express or implied. Also see Baehr v. Penn-O-Tex Oil Corp., 258 Minn. 533, 104 N.W.2d 661(1960), Pullman Co. v. Ray, supra, and Snyder v. Cearfoss, 187 Md. 635, 51 A.2d 264 (1947).
Thus, while I am unable to agree with the majority opinion that the appellant’s letters to appellees and their respective acknowledgments thereon constituted a binding obligation, I concur in the result since appellant’s subsequent forbearance provided the necessary consideration to support the unilateral promises of appellees.