CHAPTER 3. Consent [1565. - 1590.]

Cal. Civil Code - CIV 3.
in effect

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1565. Section 1565.

The consent of the parties to a contract must be: 1. Free; 2. Mutual; and, 3. Communicated by each to the other.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1566. Section 1566.

A consent which is not free is nevertheless not absolutely void, but may be rescinded by the parties, in the manner prescribed by the Chapter on Rescission.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1567. Section 1567.

An apparent consent is not real or free when obtained through: 1. Duress; 2. Menace; 3. Fraud; 4. Undue influence; or, 5. Mistake.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1568. Section 1568.

Consent is deemed to have been obtained through one of the causes mentioned in the last section only when it would not have been given had such cause not existed.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1568.5. Section 1568.5.

A representation by a minor that the minor’s parent or legal guardian has consented shall not be considered to be consent for purposes of this chapter.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1569. Section 1569.

Duress consists in any of the following: (a) Unlawful confinement of the person of the party, or of the spouse of such party, or of an ancestor, descendant, or adopted child of such party or spouse. (b) Unlawful detention of the property of any such person. (c) Confinement of such person, lawful in form, but fraudulently obtained, or fraudulently made unjustly harassing or oppressive.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1570. Section 1570.

Menace consists in a threat: 1. Of such duress as is specified in Subdivisions 1 and 3 of the last section; 2. Of unlawful and violent injury to the person or property of any such person as is specified in the last section; or, 3. Of injury to the character of any such person.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1572. Section 1572.

Actual fraud, within the meaning of this Chapter, consists in any of the following acts, committed by a party to the contract, or with his connivance, with intent to deceive another party thereto, or to induce him to enter into the contract: 1. The suggestion, as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who does not believe it to be true; 2. The positive assertion, in a manner not warranted by the information of the person making it, of that which is not true, though he believes it to be true; 3. The suppression of that which is true, by one having knowledge or belief of the fact; 4. A promise made without any intention of performing it; or, 5. Any other act fitted to deceive.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1573. Section 1573.

Constructive fraud consists: 1. In any breach of duty which, without an actually fraudulent intent, gains an advantage to the person in fault, or any one claiming under him, by misleading another to his prejudice, or to the prejudice of any one claiming under him; or, 2. In any such act or omission as the law specially declares to be fraudulent, without respect to actual fraud.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1575. Section 1575.

Undue influence consists: 1. In the use, by one in whom a confidence is reposed by another, or who holds a real or apparent authority over him, of such confidence or authority for the purpose of obtaining an unfair advantage over him; 2. In taking an unfair advantage of another’s weakness of mind; or, 3. In taking a grossly oppressive and unfair advantage of another’s necessities or distress.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1577. Section 1577.

Mistake of fact is a mistake, not caused by the neglect of a legal duty on the part of the person making the mistake, and consisting in: 1. An unconscious ignorance or forgetfulness of a fact past or present, material to the contract; or, 2. Belief in the present existence of a thing material to the contract, which does not exist, or in the past existence of such a thing, which has not existed.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1578. Section 1578.

Mistake of law constitutes a mistake, within the meaning of this Article, only when it arises from: 1. A misapprehension of the law by all parties, all supposing that they knew and understood it, and all making substantially the same mistake as to the law; or, 2. A misapprehension of the law by one party, of which the others are aware at the time of contracting, but which they do not rectify.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1580. Section 1580.

Consent is not mutual, unless the parties all agree upon the same thing in the same sense. But in certain cases defined by the Chapter on Interpretation, they are to be deemed so to agree without regard to the fact.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1581. Section 1581.

Consent can be communicated with effect, only by some act or omission of the party contracting, by which he intends to communicate it, or which necessarily tends to such communication.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1582. Section 1582.

If a proposal prescribes any conditions concerning the communication of its acceptance, the proposer is not bound unless they are conformed to; but in other cases any reasonable and usual mode may be adopted.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1583. Section 1583.

Consent is deemed to be fully communicated between the parties as soon as the party accepting a proposal has put his acceptance in the course of transmission to the proposer, in conformity to the last section.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1584. Section 1584.

Performance of the conditions of a proposal, or the acceptance of the consideration offered with a proposal, is an acceptance of the proposal.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1584.5. Section 1584.5.

No person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or agent or employee thereof, shall, in any manner, or by any means, offer for sale goods, wares, merchandise, or services, where the offer includes the voluntary and unsolicited sending or providing of goods, wares, merchandise, or services not actually ordered or requested by the recipient, either orally or in writing. The receipt of any goods, wares, merchandise, or services shall for all purposes be deemed an unconditional gift to the recipient who may use or dispose of the goods, wares, merchandise, or services in any manner he or she sees fit without any obligation on his or her part to the sender or provider. If, after any receipt deemed to be an unconditional gift under this section, the sender or provider continues to send bill statements or requests for payment with respect to the gift, an action may be brought by the recipient to enjoin the conduct, in which action there may also be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing party. For the purposes of this section and limited to merchandise or services offered for sale through the mails, the “voluntary and unsolicited sending or providing of goods, wares, merchandise, or services not actually ordered or requested by the recipient, either orally or in writing,” includes any merchandise or services selected by the company and offered to the consumer which will be mailed to him or her for sale or on approval or provided to him or her unless he or she exercises an option to reject the offer of sale or receipt on approval. Merchandise or services selected by the seller and offered for sale on a periodic basis must be affirmatively ordered by a statement or card signed by the consumer as to each periodic offer of merchandise or services. This paragraph shall not apply to any of the following: (a) Contractual plans or arrangements complying with this subdivision under which the seller periodically provides the consumer with a form or announcement card which the consumer may use to instruct the seller not to ship the offered merchandise. Any instructions not to ship merchandise included on the form or card shall be printed in type as large as all other instructions and terms stated on the form or card. The form or card shall specify a date by which it shall be mailed by the consumer (the “mailing date”) or received by the seller (the “return date”) to prevent shipment of the offered merchandise. The seller shall mail the form or card either at least 25 days prior to the return date or at least 20 days prior to the mailing date, or provide a mailing date of at least 10 days after receipt by the consumer, except that whichever system the seller chooses for mailing the form or card, the system must be calculated to afford the consumer at least 10 days in which to mail his or her form or card. The form or card shall be preaddressed to the seller so that it may serve as a postal reply card or, alternatively, the form or card shall be accompanied by a return envelope addressed to seller. Upon the membership contract or application form or on the same page and immediately adjacent to the contract or form, and in clear and conspicuous language, there shall be disclosed the material terms of the plan or arrangement including all of the following: (1) That aspect of the plan under which the subscriber must notify the seller, in the manner provided for by the seller, if he or she does not wish to purchase or receive the selection. (2) Any obligation assumed by the subscriber to purchase a minimum quantity of merchandise. (3) The right of a contract-complete subscriber to cancel his or her membership at any time. (4) Whether billing charges will include an amount for postage and handling. (b) Other contractual plans or arrangements not covered under subdivision (a), such as continuity plans, subscription arrangements, standing order arrangements, supplements and series arrangements under which the seller periodically ships merchandise to a consumer who has consented in advance to receive the merchandise on a periodic basis.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1584.6. Section 1584.6.

If a person is a member of an organization which makes retail sales of any goods, wares, or merchandise to its members, and the person notifies the organization of his termination of membership by certified mail, return receipt requested, any unordered goods, wares, or merchandise which are sent to the person after 30 days following execution of the return receipt for the certified letter by the organization, shall for all purposes be deemed unconditional gifts to the person, who may use or dispose of the goods, wares, or merchandise in any manner he sees fit without any obligation on his part to the organization. If the termination of a person’s membership in such organization breaches any agreement with the organization, nothing in this section shall relieve the person from liability for damages to which he might be otherwise subjected to pursuant to law, but he shall not be subject to any damages with respect to any goods, wares, or merchandise which are deemed unconditional gifts to him under this section. If after any receipt deemed to be an unconditional gift under this section, the sender continues to send bill statements or requests for payment with respect thereto, an action may be brought by the recipient to enjoin such conduct, in which action there may also be awarded reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to the prevailing party.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1585. Section 1585.

An acceptance must be absolute and unqualified, or must include in itself an acceptance of that character which the proposer can separate from the rest, and which will conclude the person accepting. A qualified acceptance is a new proposal.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1586. Section 1586.

A proposal may be revoked at any time before its acceptance is communicated to the proposer, but not afterwards.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1587. Section 1587.

A proposal is revoked by any of the following: (a) By the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party, in the manner prescribed by Sections 1581 and 1583, before his or her acceptance has been communicated to the former. (b) By the lapse of the time prescribed in the proposal for its acceptance or, if no time is prescribed, the lapse of a reasonable time without communication of the acceptance. (c) By the failure of the acceptor to fulfill a condition precedent to acceptance. (d) By the death or legal incapacity to make decisions of the proposer.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1589. Section 1589.

A voluntary acceptance of the benefit of a transaction is equivalent to a consent to all the obligations arising from it, so far as the facts are known, or ought to be known, to the person accepting.

Cal. Civil Code - CIV § 1590. Section 1590.

Where either party to a contemplated marriage in this State makes a gift of money or property to the other on the basis or assumption that the marriage will take place, in the event that the donee refuses to enter into the marriage as contemplated or that it is given up by mutual consent, the donor may recover such gift or such part of its value as may, under all of the circumstances of the case, be found by a court or jury to be just.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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