III. Answer the questions:

1. What are the four stages to buying a home?

2. What is "conveyancing"?

3. What are common disadvantages of doing your own conveyancing?

4. What are the main problems in finding the house?

5. What is one legal point that may arise in finding a home?

6. Where do the buyers commonly raise the capital for a home?

7. Why is it wise to shop around?

8. How can a buyer fmd a solicitor to handle the legal matters?

9. What is the best strategy about making an offer to seller?

10. What does "subject to contract" mean?

The Consumer and Law

I. Study the vocabulary:

to be covered by many forms of protection гарантувати багато форм правового захисту

transaction - угода з купівлі або продажу

commodity - товар

a retailer (trader) - продавець

terms - умови

valid - який має юридичну силу

an offer - пропозиція

acceptance - згода на пропозицию, акцентувати

a checkout - каса

to draw up a document - складати документ

to sign - шдписувати

to be binding - бути обов'язковим для виконання

effective - що набуває силу

to reject faulty goods - повертати товар з дефектом

to cancel in writing - відмовлятися від покупки у писемній формі

to deliver - доставляти

to be entitled to compensation - мати право на компенсацію

a breach of contract - порушення умов контракту

to incur expenses - понести збитки

to claim monetary compensation - вимагати грошову компенсацию

reduction in the price - зниження шни

to have an obligation - мати зобов'язання

anticipated profit - очікуваний прибуток

П. Read and learn the topic:

When one buys the things in a shop, or by mail order, it is "sale of goods" and it's covered by many forms of protection. Any other type of transaction - from using a launderette or car park to employing a builder or solicitor - is called a "supply of services" and is rather different.

Broadly speaking, all transactions which take place in shops, garages, and market stalls, through the post or telephone - where some commodity is wanted and is supplied there and then or very shortly afterwards - are sales of goods. Anything else where a person is employed for a particular purpose, even when the work includes using materials, will be a supply of services.

Sale of goods

Every time something is bought, whether it is packet of pins or a motor car, a contract is made. It is because of this contract that the rights and obligations exist. The contract is made with the person who sells the goods - the retailer, not the manufacturer. One's claim, in the event of this going wrong, should be directed primarily to the trader from whom the goods were bought.

Making the contract

From there to be a valid contract at law there must be two elements; an offer by one side and unconditional by the other. The offer can be to buy or to sell. From a practical point of view, however, the offer is normally made by the shopper who sees what he wants and decides to buy it.

FN offer can be made in different ways, in writing, by speaking, or just by conduct, as when one takes a supermarket trolley to the checkout and hands the goods to a salesperson that works the till and points to a total at the end. Money is a vital ingredient of a contract for the sale of goods; without money, or money's worth, the arrangement may not be a contract at all.

The acceptance of the offer may be made in any of the ways that an offer is made. A contract, therefore, does not have to be a formal document drawn up by lawyers and signed over a sixpenny stamp. Many people believe that there is no binding contract unless there is something in writing. This is not so. It is possible to form a contract involving a great deal of money without a word being spoken

let alone written down. And an oral contract is just as effective, from all points ol view, as a written one.

Acceptance terminates the Right to Reject the Goods

The right to reject faulty goods is lost once the goods are 'accepted' - which means once the buyer has done something inconsistent with the ownership of the goods by the trader Once a garment has been worn and washed it may well be too late to reject. The moral is to cancel immediately a fault is found, and to do it in writing, keeping a copy.

Breach of Contract

if the trader fails to supply the goods, or to deliver them in time; or if they do not comply with the implied terms, he has broken the contract. The buyer will be entitled to compensation (damages). If the breach is very serious the buyer can cancel the contract and reject the goods unless he has accepted them. The damages then are what he has paid plus any out-of-pocket expenses which may have been incurred.

If the breach of contract is less serious (for example where the goods may be repaired without much cost, or where what is wrong offends the eye but does not stop the goods functioning more or less correctly), the buyer can claim some monetary compensation because he has not got what he bargains for. He could claim the cost of a repair or a reduction in the price.

Once the goods have been 'accepted' one loses the right to reject and cancel. But one is still entitled to compensation.

Traders have rights as well. The buyer of goods has an obligation to pay for them and to take delivery. Failure to do so puts the buyer in breach of contract and the trader can claim compensation for loss of his anticipated profit as well as any expense he may have incurred.