Reference no: EM13900836

Peter and Donald were long time coworkers. Donald lived in Westwood and Peter lived in Long beach, however Donald decided to sell his house and move to a countryside. He also knew that Peter and his wife are looking for a new house in Westwood because their daughter just got accepted to UCLA and they want to move to Westwood where Peter's work was also located. Donald offered to sell the house to Peter and upon inspecting the house Peter and his wife Lena loved it. It was only 3 years old house, with 3 bedrooms, in the middle of the city yet a quiet neighborhood, exactly what Peter and Lena wanted. They also agreed on a price, shook hands and called it a deal.

Peter and Donald agreed on the price and Peter paid 1% of the entire price and they agreed that each month for the next 15 years Peter will periodically make payments. After a month Peter started making small improvements to the house, decorating it making it a home, place full of love and warmth. After 2 months where improvements were done they moved in. They sold their house in Long Beach and now Westwood was their home. 6 months had gone by and Peter continued to make monthly payments, but at that time Donald missed Westwood, he found the countryside life very monotone and boring and he wanted to come back to the city.   One night while talking to an Attorney friend he told about selling his house to Peter but there is no paperwork, and the attorney told him that such contracts are unenforceable because contracts for sale of land MUST be in writing. Donald got excited that he can get his house back since he is still the owner on the paper, and he called Peter requesting the house back, Peter refused and sued Donald asking the court for specific performance so the court will give the title of the house to Peter.

1) Under what theory can Peter sue and Win. (Talk about the Law and its exception, be detailed and thorough. Do it in IRAC Format :-) 

2) What if Peter went to Donald one night, threatening to kill him unless he signs a contract by which he transfers the title of his Westwood house under Peter's name in a written, legal form. Could he be successful, Why? or Why not? (Do a SEPARATE IRAC for this Question)

3) Imagine Donald sold his house to Peter using all legal means, they had a written contract, however knowing how much Peter loves Jacky Chan he falsely told Peter that before him Jacky Chan was living in this house and the ONLY reason why Peter bought the house was the fact that he relied on Donald's statement. Later on he found out  about it and Rescinded the contract. On what legal ground did Peter succeed?