National Real Estate Exam (PSI)ContractsMedium
A buyer sends a seller a written offer to purchase a home for $300,000. The seller signs the offer but crosses out the closing date and writes in a new date before returning it. Under contract law, what is the legal effect of the seller's change?
- AThe buyer's offer remains valid and the seller's change is void
- BThe original offer is automatically accepted with the new closing date
- CThe contract is voidable only by the seller
- DThe seller has made a counteroffer, rejecting the buyer's original offer
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. The seller has made a counteroffer, rejecting the buyer's original offer
Under the mirror-image rule, an acceptance must match the terms of the offer exactly. Any change to the terms creates a counteroffer, which rejects the original offer and requires the original offeror's (buyer's) acceptance to form a contract.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The original offer is terminated once a counteroffer is made, not merely disregarded.
- B. Changing a term is not automatic acceptance; it voids the original offer.
- C. Voidability doesn't apply here; this is a matter of offer and acceptance, not capacity or fraud.
Mirror Image Rule
An acceptance must match the exact terms of the offer; any change constitutes a counteroffer, not an acceptance.
- A counteroffer terminates the original offer
- The original offeror becomes the offeree of the counteroffer
- No contract exists until unqualified acceptance occurs
Memory trick: No exact mirror, no deal — just a new offer.