AMI 2517 Acceptance of Goods
Ark. Model Jury Instr., Civil AMI 2517
Arkansas Model Jury Instructions-Civil
December 2023 Update
Chapter 25. UCC Sales Contracts
AMI 2517 Acceptance of Goods
A buyer accepts goods when:
[after having had a reasonable opportunity to inspect the goods, the buyer signifies to a seller that the goods are conforming or that (he) (she) will take them in spite of their not conforming][or]
[after having had a reasonable opportunity to inspect the goods, the buyer fails to make an effective rejection of the goods][or]
[a buyer does any act that is inconsistent with the seller's ownership][, such act is wrongful as against the seller and the seller ratifies such act].
NOTE ON USE
Use the appropriate bracketed sub-paragraph(s) as warranted by the evidence.
COMMENT
This instruction is based on Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-606. Acceptance of goods by a buyer precludes rejection of the goods. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-607(2). What constitutes non-conforming delivery, acceptance, rejection, or revocation of acceptance is a question for the jury to be determined by the facts of each particular case. Marine Mart, Inc. v. Pearce, 252 Ark. 601, 480 S.W.2d 133 (1972).
The remedies available to a buyer depend, in part, upon whether he accepts the goods. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-607 describes the general legal consequences of acceptance. After acceptance, a buyer must pay the contract price (unless he is entitled to a reduction or damages because of a non-conformity or breach of warranty), the buyer loses his right to reject, and the time begins to run for the buyer to complain of any breach. 1 White & Summers, Uniform Commercial Code, § 8-21 (3rd ed. 1988). A buyer who does not reject may be able to revoke acceptance of the goods if the buyer's circumstances fit within the elements described in Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-608 (AMI 2518).
A buyer can choose to accept non-conforming goods. While the buyer affirms the transaction by so accepting such goods, he may still be entitled to damages for the non-conformity, or for a breach of warranty (AMI 2520), and possibly incidental (AMI 2521) and consequential damages (AMI 2522).
Whether the buyer has accepted goods is unrelated to the issue of whether title to the goods has passed from the seller to the buyer. 1 White & Summers, Uniform Commercial Code, § 8-2 (3rd ed. 1988).
The language in the second part of Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-606(1)(c) recognizes that circumstances may exist in which a buyer takes certain actions with respect to goods pursuant to an option or duty imposed by law or agreement, and that such actions may not constitute acceptance unless they are “wrongful” as against the seller. See Commentary to Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-606(1)(c). This instruction may thus need to include the second bracketed phrase in the last paragraph if a particular case involves such facts.
© 2023 Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions-Civil
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