Question

Leonardo contracts to paint Monet’s two-story house for $4,500. Monet realizes that he will not have sufficient money, so he transfers his rights under this agreement to his neighbor, Raphael, who has a three-story house. Raphael notifies Leonardo that the contract between Leonardo and Monet has been assigned to him and demands that Leonardo paint his house for $4,500. Is Leonardo required to do so? Discuss. Assume that Leonardo agrees to the assignment of the house-painting contract to Raphael. After, Leonardo fails to perform the contract to paint Raphael's house. Raphael sues Monet for damages. Is Monet liable? Discuss.

Answer 1

Answer to the question:

When rights under an agreement are transferred, the duties and obligations are also transferred the same way. However, it must be noted that the burden of obligation on another party does not increase. In this case, though Monet transferred his contract rights to Raphael, the burden on Leonardo has been increased as he will now have to paint three-story house of Raphael instead of two-story house of Monet. This is against the assignment of contract laws and Leonardo is not under obligation to paint Raphael's house for same amount of $4,500.

If Leonardo, in principal, agrees to the assignment of the house-painting contract to Raphael, he will have to adhere to the clauses of the original contract with the Monet and will have to perform the contract to full satisfaction of Raphael. If Leonardo fails to do so, Raphael can invoke the provisions of the contract and can sue as both the original parties to the contract i.e. Leonardo and Monet had intended Raphael to benefit directly from the contract.