Contracts, 12% of the examination
Void and voidable
A void contract never had legal effect. A voidable contract is valid until the party with the power to escape elects to disaffirm it.
An unlawful object makes a contract void. Fraud, duress, menace, undue influence and mistake make it voidable at the option of the injured party, and a minor's contract is voidable by the minor rather than by the adult. This distinction is tested in nearly every contracts section.
See it in a question
One question from Contracts, so the term lands in the context the exam uses it in.
A seller receives an offer and returns it signed, having changed the closing date. What has the seller legally done?
Written to DRE's published topic list. Not a real examination question, since reproducing those is a misdemeanour under B&P Code section 123.