Also known as: quasi-contract · quasi ex contractu · quasi-contracts · quasi-contractual obligation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal fiction that imposes an obligation resembling a contractual duty to prevent one party from retaining a benefit unjustly conferred by another. The obligation arises from the equitable principle that a person shall not enrich himself at the expense of another even though no actual agreement exists between the parties. Recovery is measured by the reasonable value of the benefit retained.
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Queen Quintero and Quincy Quan became engaged and Quincy quit his job and paid for wedding deposits and relocation expenses in preparation for the marriage. After Quincy called off the wedding Queen sued for the money spent and for emotional distress caused by the broken engagement. The court treated the claim as a quasi-contract action and allowed recovery of actual expenditures made in reliance on the planned marriage.
Quest Pharmaceuticals hired Oakwood Park Homes Corp to landscape its new headquarters but the parties never finalized a written price term. Oakwood completed the work and the property value increased by the reasonable cost of the plantings and irrigation. Quest refused to pay so Oakwood sued in quasi-contract and recovered the value of the benefit retained by Quest.
A court imposes a quasi-contract obligation when no enforceable contract exists yet one party has conferred a measurable benefit on another that would be unjust to retain. The obligation is created by law to prevent unjust enrichment rather than to enforce any promise the parties actually made.
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Recovery is limited to actual damages such as expenditures made in preparation for marriage along with loss to reputation mental anguish and injury to health. Expected benefits such as social or financial position from the marriage itself are not recoverable.
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No. Once a contract is avoided the performing party may still recover in quasi-contract the reasonable value of any benefit conferred on the other party through part performance. The claim prevents unjust enrichment even though the original agreement is unenforceable.
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The plaintiff must show that the defendant received a benefit and that retention of the benefit would be unjust. The duty to pay is supplied by law once those elements are established even though the parties never formed an actual contract.
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