It is imperative that all contracts be read thoroughly before being signed because “bad things can happen,” according to a court decision involving a dispute over an undelivered copier.
Judge John Murphy dismissed the claim put forth by Hefler Forest Products Ltd., a sawmill and wood products company in Lower Sackville, against MCAP Leasing Inc., Pinnacle Office Systems Inc., and Lawrence O’Brien to recoup lease payments made toward a never-delivered $60,000 copy machine.
According to court documents, O’Brien, a principal at Pinnacle, approached Dugal Prest, Hefler’s general manager, in August 2009 to inquire about whether the company was in need of office equipment.
Prest agreed to purchase a Konica C550 Color Bizhub Digital Imaging System, with lease financing provided through MCAP, and payments starting in September 2009.
A week after that meeting, Hefler’s application was approved by MCAP, and O’Brien visited the company office for Prest to sign the lease on behalf of Hefler.
As per the court documents, Prest partially reviewed the documents and did not read the terms and conditions. Prest signed the lease, despite expressing concerns to O’Brien that he was “confirming delivery and installation of the copier when that had not taken place, and that there were missing particulars, such as the copier’s serial number and Hefler’s banking information.”
On Aug. 18, 2009, MCAP inserted the lease reference number and commencement date on the lease and executed the document, as it thought “everything to be in order.” MCAP then released payment to Pinnacle and began withdrawing monthly payments from Hefler’s bank account.
The copier was never delivered by Pinnacle, which had ceased operations, and Hefler discovered the monthly withdrawals on Dec. 10, 2010, 15 months later.
“The lease contained all the essential terms and came into force when it was executed by Hefler,” Murphy wrote. “The lease did not contain an express or implied condition precedent requiring delivery and installation before enforceability.”
Original Post