Sales and Leases Outline (First Edition)

Sales and Leases | 142

representations. Promptly upon discovering the defect, the collector notified the dealer. The dealer was not prejudiced by any delay; the card was incurably worthless. [ See Fitl v. Strek , 690 N.W.2d 605 (Neb. 2005).] Compare : A manufacturer produced and sold airplane cables coated in diamond dust for hardness. The manufacturer contracted to sell a stated quantity of these diamond-coated cables to a distributor. The distributor took delivery of the cables and then resold them to his own customers. Not until six months later, when the distributor’s customers started complaining about the cables’ quality and durability, did the distributor provide notification of any breach. Here, the notification was likely untimely. The distributor had plenty of time to use and inspect the cables, and the distributor’s months-long use of the cables reasonably signaled to the manufacturer that the distributor accepted the cables and that the transaction was final. [ See Dan J. Sheehan Co. v. Ceramic Technics, Ltd. , 605 S.E.2d 375 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004) (discussing See Imex Int’l, Inc. v. Wires EL , 583 S.E.2d 117 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).] Agreed Time for Notice The parties may agree upon a time frame for the buyer to give the seller notice of breach, provided this time frame is not manifestly unreasonable. [2 Hawkland UCC Series § 2-607:3, Westlaw (database updated June 2021) (citing U.C.C. § 1-302 (2001).] Manner of Notifying Seller Under the UCC, one generally notifies or gives notice to someone “by taking such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the other person in ordinary course, whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it.” [U.C.C. § 1-202(d) (2001).] Thus, if the buyer takes adequate steps to provide the seller notice, for instance, placing a letter in the mail, she may retain her remedies for breach even if the seller never receives the notice. Courts are divided over whether simply filing and serving a complaint is adequate notice to preserve the buyer’s remedies. Some courts require the buyer to plead, in her complaint, that she provided notice beforehand. [2 Hawkland UCC Series § 2-607:3, Westlaw (database updated June 2021).] Content of Notice of Breach The notice of breach should particularize the alleged nonconformities, so as to give the seller a reasonable opportunity to cure them—assuming the defect is curable—or else enough information for the seller to understand the nature and scope of the defects. [ See Imex Int’l, Inc. v. Wires EL , 583 S.E.2d 117 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).]

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