Mortgage Crisis in the US Part 2! Commercial properties.

[Ford Prefect]

Thanks for the explanation Ken. That makes sense. However, I still think the term "legal tender" is a misnomer since it's really no different than a cheque, debit card or credit card. In practice it's just another discretionary form of currency. I must be interpreting legal tender wrong I guess. To me the term legal tender gives it binding validity, but it's actually just discretionary, depending on the retailer's whims and policies.

Now, what about postage stamps ... are they a form of legal tender? Just curious. If I went into Tim Horton's and tried to pay for my coffee and fritter with a bunch of stamps I fully expect to be refused. But is a transaction like that theocratically possible, depending on the retailer's acceptance?

(Sorry for derailing the thread, but the OP doesn't seem to be getting much discussion and I find the legal tender/postage stamp as currency stuff interesting, and I don't think it warrants its own thread.)

[Bobblehead]

From Ken's link:

(2) A payment in coins referred to in subsection (1) is a legal tender for no more than the following amounts for the following denominations of coins:

(a) forty dollars if the denomination is two dollars or greater but does not exceed ten dollars;

(b) twenty-five dollars if the denomination is one dollar;

(c) ten dollars if the denomination is ten cents or greater but less than one dollar;

(d) five dollars if the denomination is five cents; and

(e) twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.

So the maximum pile of pennies you can use and still have it considered legal tender is 25.

I didn't know those limits.

[Bobblehead]

Re: legal tender:

8. (1) Subject to this section, a tender of payment of money is a legal tender if it is made

(a) in coins that are current under section 7; and

(b) in notes issued by the Bank of Canada pursuant to the Bank of Canada Act intended for circulation in Canada.

So it does not appear that stamps qualify.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Thanks for the explanation Ken. That makes sense. However, I still think the term "legal tender" is a misnomer since it's really no different than a cheque, debit card or credit card. In practice it's just another discretionary form of currency. I must be interpreting legal tender wrong I guess. To me the term legal tender gives it binding validity, but it's actually just discretionary, depending on the retailer's whims and policies.

I understand what you mean, but I think the key is the terms of the contract you are looking to enter into. Let's give a different example:

It is the year 2006 and you are selling your house. You believe it is worth $400K, but you list it for $300K in order to get a bidding war happenning. As it turns out, you only get one offer. It is for the $300K, with no conditions, and a promise of a cash transaction. You may still reject that offer; even though the person promised to pay cash. Once again the difference being that we had not yet entered into a contract.

And I think that is why there are signs up. Technically once the cashier rings up my purchases and asks for $112, they are agreeing to enter a contract to sell me those items for that price. At that point it is too late to make further conditions on the contract. However the sign being posted in the store is saying "For anybody who wishes to enter into a contract to buy items here, please be informed that one of the terms of the contract is that we will not accept $100 bills."

I do have to agree, this is the one part of Contract Law that I took in University that I found interesting. The other interesting part is most of these laws date back centuries to England.