09 Jul Good Faith Standard

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) sets the statutory standards for commercial activities including sales, leases, financial transactions, credit, and documents relating to the transfer of ownership of certain property.  Among the many purposes of the UCC is the imposition of a duty of good faith upon entrepreneurs in their business transactions. While the exact code promulgated by each state legislature may differ slightly the principle involved is that in commercial transactions good faith is required in the performance and enforcement of all agreements or duties. While we certainly expect everyone who is involved in a contract to perform on that contract as they agreed, the UCC requires that merchants be held to a higher standard of good faith in their transactions than is expected of two non-merchants entering into a contract. Notice that this duty goes beyond merely fulfilling the requirements specified in a written contract between two merchants. Find, cite, and share the exact language of the UCC statute in your state which discusses this good faith duty. Next, think about your own business idea and assess at least two example interactions with either customers or other businesses in which you think the good faith standard would apply. Base the selection of your example upon research you conduct outside of your textbook demonstrating why the application of the good-faith standard is applicable.