Written (e-mail) but not in contract

[zen1989]

We hired a small home design company.
They said in an email they would do something that I did not insist to become part of the contract thinking that they would live up to what they had written and said.

In the end as it happens they did not and they said they just did everything according to the agreement.
And this I cannot dispute.

I asked them about what they had confirmed in the e-mail, but they did not give a straight response, they kept saying they fulfilled their contract.

I just wonder if something that is written, but not in the signed contract, is it legally binding?

California

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

It can be but in a case like this where they have a contract that you agree they fulfilled it won't be.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The general rule for contract law is that communications exchanged prior to execution of the final written contract are not admissible in court to determine what the contract requires. The assumption is that everything that the parties wanted is included in the final contract, and everything else discussed before was just part of negotiating to reach that final contract. So in the future, if you want something that is promised during the course of negotiating the contract, be sure it is actually in the final written agreement before you sign it.

 

[zen1989]

The general rule for contract law is that communications exchanged prior to execution of the final written contract are not admissible in court to determine what the contract requires. The assumption is that everything that the parties wanted is included in the final contract, and everything else discussed before was just part of negotiating to reach that final contract. So in the future, if you want something that is promised during the course of negotiating the contract, be sure it is actually in the final written agreement before you sign it.

Thank you! Yes, now I know .