Law of Contract: RES exam practice questions

In contract law, a newspaper or online advertisement of a property for sale at a stated price is generally treated as __________.

1. Aan offer, which anyone can accept
2. Ban invitation to treat
3. Ca unilateral contract
4. Da binding option

Which provision requires a contract for the sale of land to be evidenced in writing?

1. ASection 87 of the Land Titles Act
2. BSection 6(d) of the Civil Law Act
3. CThe Residential Property Act
4. DThe Estate Agents Act

A contract that the law treats as if it never existed is called a __________ contract.

1. Avoidable
2. Bvoid
3. Cunenforceable
4. Dconditional

“Rescission” of a contract means __________.

1. Awithdrawing an offer before it is accepted
2. Bunmaking the contract so that it is treated as void from the start (ab initio)
3. Ca court order to perform the contract
4. Dcorrecting a mistake in the written document

What are “liquidated damages”?

1. ADamages decided by the court after trial
2. BAn amount of damages agreed by the parties in advance
3. CDamages paid in cash only
4. DDamages for emotional distress

“This is the best condo in the whole of Singapore!” In contract law, this statement is __________.

1. Aa term of the contract
2. Ba mere puff with no legal effect
3. Ca fraudulent misrepresentation
4. Da condition

Mr Lee Kah Meng, 60, is selling his 3-bedroom condominium unit in Pasir Ris because he and his wife are moving in with their son nearby. On Monday, 19 October 2026, he told Mei Wong, 32, a nurse who had viewed the unit twice, that he would sell it to her for $1,100,000. Mei replied at once: “I’ll pay $1,050,000, that’s my best.” Mr Lee said no. Mei’s parents, who were helping with the down payment, urged her not to lose the unit, so the next day she called back: “Fine, I accept $1,100,000.” By then Mr Lee had decided not to deal with her. Mei believes his original offer was still open, because he never withdrew it in writing.

Which of the following BEST describes the position between Mr Lee and Mei?

1. AA contract was formed at $1,100,000 when Mei called back, because Mr Lee had never withdrawn his original offer in writing.
2. BNo contract was formed. Mei’s $1,050,000 reply was a counter-offer that ended Mr Lee’s offer, so her later call was only a new offer.
3. CA contract was formed, because an offer to sell property stays open until the property is sold to someone else or withdrawn.
4. DA contract was formed at $1,050,000, because Mr Lee rejected Mei’s counter-offer orally and never put the rejection in writing.

Mdm Lim Poh Choo, 52, a widowed business owner, promised her son Darren, 20, over dinner that she would give him $800 a month while he studied in Melbourne for three years. She transferred the money every month for the first year, and Darren signed a lease for a room near his campus on the strength of it. After a quarrel about his grades and his spending, she stopped paying. Darren’s friend, a law student, tells him he can sue for the remaining 24 months, because a clear monthly sum was stated and Mdm Lim had already performed for a whole year.

Which of the following BEST describes the legal position?

1. ADarren can enforce the promise, because a clear monthly sum was stated and his mother’s year of payments shows she meant it.
2. BThe promise is unlikely to be binding, because in family arrangements the law does not presume an intention to be bound.
3. CThe promise is binding, because an intention to create legal relations is presumed in every agreement that involves money.
4. DThe promise is binding for all three years, because Mdm Lim’s payments for a full year amounted to her acceptance of it.

During a viewing in 2024 of her 2-bedroom unit in a Bayshore condominium, the seller, Mrs Low Siew Hong, told the buyer, Mr Arjun Menon, 38, “I think prices in this estate will go up a lot after the new MRT line opens.” She also told him, correctly, that the unit faced the sea and had been repainted that year. Relying partly on her remark and partly on a newspaper article about the area, Mr Arjun bought the unit for $1,380,000. Two years later, in October 2026, prices in the estate have not moved, and he wants to sue Mrs Low for misrepresentation because her statement turned out to be wrong.

Which of the following is correct?

1. AMr Arjun can claim misrepresentation, because Mrs Low’s statement about prices turned out to be wrong and he relied on it.
2. BThere is no misrepresentation, because Mrs Low’s remark was an opinion about a future event, not a statement of fact.
3. CThere is no misrepresentation, but only because Mrs Low’s statement was made verbally and not written into the OTP.
4. DMrs Low is liable, because a seller who comments on future prices is taken to guarantee the price growth she predicts.

On Thursday, 1 October 2026, Mr Low Chin Huat, 62, and Ms Ang Mei Xin, 41, signed a contract in Singapore for Ms Ang to buy Mr Low’s holiday chalet in Malaysia for $320,000. Ms Ang, who runs a travel agency, planned to rent it out to her customers. Mr Low had insured the chalet for its full value. Unknown to either of them, the chalet had burnt down in a bush fire the day before they signed. Ms Ang’s sister, a lawyer, says the contract must still be performed because the fire was nobody’s fault and the contract had been properly signed.

What is the status of the contract between Mr Low and Ms Ang?

1. AIt is void for common mistake, because both parties wrongly assumed when they signed that the chalet still existed.
2. BIt is discharged by frustration, because the fire was an event beyond the control of both Mr Low and Ms Ang.
3. CIt is valid, so Ms Ang must still pay the price and look to Mr Low’s insurance for the value of the chalet.
4. DIt is voidable for misrepresentation, because Mr Low described a chalet that no longer existed when they signed.