# The types of contracts possible

There are *many* types of contracts, proportional to how much we're connected with others in [society](jobs-specialization.md), and any given document may include multiple contracts inside it.

Formalized arrangements are the foundation of most business, and they're all connected through these contracts. For this reason, there are *many* domains of law that intersect and converge with contract law:

- Trust and inheritance law - for [death and succession planning](hardship-death.md)
- Property law - for high-value properties like [real estate](home-maintenance.md)
- Intellectual property law - for [intellectual property](legal-ip.md) ownership and enforcement
- Commercial/trade law - for [large-scale](groups-large.md) law matters such as corporations across multiple nations
- Competition law - for preserving [free market competition](economics.md)
- Insurance law - for protecting against losses in the course of contractual agreements

Generally, contracts are either payment (trading a good for another good or a service) or reciprocal (where both sides must perform).

Contract of sale - a party selling or transferring an interest, right, or property to another party (typically with a "deed"):

- Agreement to sell business - selling a business.
- Assignment of contract - transferring benefits and obligations from one party to another.
- Bills of sale - documents that legally transfer ownership, as well as providing evidence that there was an agreement at the time of sale.
- Bill of lading - a document that indicates receipt of cargo transferred for shipment, with a delivery order that fulfills that delivery.
- Option contract - an agreement where the holder has the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell something.
- Leaseback - short for sale-and-leaseback, where a party sells an asset and then pays a lease back for long-term use, effectively transferring ownership while still using it.
- Purchase order - a document indicating an agreement for someone to buy an item at an agreed-upon price, typically with delivery dates and payment terms included.
- Real estate contract - two parties transferring ownership of real estate.
- Rent-to-own agreement - aka lease-purchase contract, permitting a person to rent, with the conclusion of a term leading to ownership of the property.
- Warranty - actions or conditions that would lead to paying damages, with a "limited warranty" only limiting one or a few parts of the contract.

Payment forms:

- Cost-plus contract - the payment involves all the service provider's allowed expenses, plus additional payment to permit a profit, contrasts to fixed-price contract.
  - Cost-plus incentive fee - an initially negotiated fee that can be adjusted later by a formula.
  - Cost plus fixed fee contract - the purchaser pays a fixed amount over the documented costs of the work.
  - Cost plus a percentage of cost contract - the purchaser pays over 100% of the documented cost, with a certain expense for the contractors' profit
- Fixed-price contract - the payment amount doesn't depend on resources used or time expended by the contractor, contrasts to cost-plus contract.
- Lump sum contract - the payment comes at the end, after the job has been finished.
- Part exchange - instead of one party paying money and the other supplying goods/services, both parties supply goods/services, with one of them using money to make up any difference in value.
- Performance-based contracting (PBC) - payment is based on measurable metrics.
- Unit cost contract - payment is based on units fulfilled rather than a single price.

Lease - a lessee provides temporary use of a lessor's property, which can include *many* domains, including security deposits and rules.

- Commodate - a gratuitous loan that grants free ownership of something for a certain timeframe, which restores it back to the commodator after a certain time.
- Concession agreement - a government, local authority, individual or entity granting rights, land or property for a particular purpose or in exchange for a percentage of revenue generated.
- Indefeasible right of use - a non-revocable agreement between a customer and a telecommunications company where the customer pays a portion of operating/maintenance costs, typically for a very long time (often 20-30 years).
- Land contract - a seller provides financing for the buyer to finance land, and the buyer repays the resulting loan in installments, with the seller permitting use of the land until a final balloon payment that determines title transfer.
- Enhanced use lease - permitting a private developer to lease underutilized property and giving license to improve or renovate.
- Masoveria contract - a Catalan agreement of sharecropping, where a rural farm owner commissions a natural person to work the farm for a percentage of the results and the right to live on the estate.
- Rental agreement - a comparatively shorter term than a lease, with the expectation of more short-term use.

Service contract - general contract defining the scope of performing a service.

- Aleatory contract - an agreement where a party does not have to perform until a specific, triggering event occurs.
- Break/fix - aka break'n fix, an IT service provider provides services as needed and bills the customer for work done.
  - Managed services - a service plan where the customer pays a routine fixed amount for covered services, with additional amounts for more significant uncovered repairs.
- Consulting agreement - the clarified service of a consultant.
- Construction contract - a property owner agrees for a contractor to work on a building.
- Contract of carriage - an agreement between a cargo/passenger carrier and the consignor (if the sender pays), consignee (if the receiver pays), or passenger. The receiver is *typically* the same as the consignee.
- Extended warranty - a prolonged warranty offered to customers on new items beyond the standard warranty.
- Filmmaking guarantee - aka "pay-or-play contract", a participant in a film is still guaranteed to be paid even if they're released from that contract (e.g., signing talent who later may not be needed).
- Output contract - a producer agrees to sell their *entire* production to the buyer, and the buyer agrees to purchase that entire output, the converse of a requirements contract.
- Power of attorney - allows the "attorney-in-fact" to make legal, medical, and financial decisions on behalf of someone else.
- Publishing contract - the relationship between a publisher and author(s) to publish their [original content](legal-ip.md), also often refers to [*promoting*](marketing.md) the work beyond distribution (e.g., music publishing contract).
  - Recording contract - the agreement between a record label and recording artist.
- Requirements contract - one party agrees to supply as much of a good or service as required by the other party, with the other party agreeing to *only* obtain its good or service from them, the converse of an output contract.
- Service-level agreement (SLA) - one party provides a service to another party who is a customer, with specific conditions indicated if the service is not fulfilled according to specifications.

[Loan](money-2_debt.md) agreement - a creditor lends money to a borrower, with a specified asset or promise as the "security".

- Account stated - a statement between a creditor and debtor that a particular amount is owed.
- Antichresis - a debtor pledges real property to a creditor to use and occupy it in lieu of interest on the loan.
- Chattel mortgage - borrowing money to purchase "personalty".
- Indenture - exchanging labor or apprenticeship for something else, but can also apply to certain land transactions.
- Letter of credit - a payment mechanism where a credit-worthy bank gives an economic guarantee for an exporter of goods.
- Real estate mortgage - borrowing money to purchase "realty".
- Pactum de quota litis - an agreement where the creditor of a difficult-to-recover payment promises a portion to another party to recover it.
- Personal contract purchase (PCP) - a loan agreement where the borrower makes a comparatively lower monthly amount than a conventional loan during the contract period (~24-48 months), then required to make one large balloon payment at the end.
- Promissory note - a formalized document that memorializes a loan and repayment requirements.

[Investor-specific](money-investing.md) agreements:

- Big boy letter - pre-sale agreement involving a private sale of securities between two "accredited investors".
- Derivative - a contract that derives its value to investors from an underlying entity.
  - Futures contract - purchasing something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specific time in the future.
- Life annuity - a series of formula-defined payments at fixed intervals to an annuitant while they're still alive, typically part of an [insurance product](money-insurance.md) but can apply to most retirement-based matters.
  - Indexed annuity - a tax-deferred annuity where the credited interest is linked to an equity index (e.g., S&P 500).
- Private investment in public equity (PIPE) - selling publicly traded common shares or preferred stock to private investors.
- Stock option - an option contract specialized for stock ownership:
  - Call option - a holder can purchase a specific quantity of an asset at a specific strike price sometime before a specified date.
  - Put option - a holder can sell a specific quantity of an asset at a specific strike price sometime before a specified date.
- Stock purchase agreement - selling certain stocks to a specified party.
- Swap - two "counterparties" agree to exchange financial instruments, cashflows, or payments for a period of time.

Sharing benefits:

- Cohabitation agreement - two people, irrespective of [sexuality](gender.md), who have agreed to live together (a bit like [marriage](relationships-marriage.md), but only in some domains).
- Interconnect agreement - telecommunications companies agreeing to connect their networks and exchange [network traffic](networks-cs.md).
- Joint venture agreement - the goals, obligations, and financial contributions of parties in a joint business venture.
- Material transfer agreement - governs the transfer of tangible research materials between 2 entities for the purpose of the recipient using it for their own research.
- Memorandum of understanding - a bilateral (2 parties) or multilateral (3+ parties) agreement that expresses a convergence of will between the parties.
- Partnership agreement - the relationship between business partners, including their contributions and obligations to a business entity.
- Production sharing agreement - an agreement of the ratio between multiple entities of ownership of an extracted resource.
- Tax receivable agreements - a company's promise to share economic benefits from certain tax savings with other parties, can often be tax-deductible.

Relationships that vest "delegable" responsibilities and grant authorities or rights ("charter"):

- Agency agreement - establishes the scope of work an agency can perform, as well as payment and duration.
  - Listing contract/agreement - the relationship between a property owner and a real estate broker acting as their real estate agent.
- Aleatory contract - an uncertain event determines the parties' rights and obligations (e.g., gambling, [insurance](money-insurance.md)), in contrast to indemnity agreement.
- Community benefits agreement - community groups arrange for a real estate developer to provide specific amenities or mitigations to a community or neighborhood in exchange for the community supporting it (or at least not opposing it).
- Distributor agreement - the relationship between a distributor and supplier.
- Employment agreement - the relationship between an employee and employer.
- End-user license agreement - a [software license](legal-ip-floss.md) between the software supplier and [end user](glossary-computers.md).
- Franchise agreement - a relationship where a franchisor licenses some or all of their knowledge, procedures, [intellectual property](legal-ip.md), use of their business model, [brand](marketing.md), and rights to sell branded products and services to a franchisee.
- Guaranteed rental - an arrangement where a party wants to rent out a property for a large block of time to rent it themselves on a retail basis (e.g., for days or weeks).
- Indemnity agreement - a party will provide compensation for a clearly identified situation of another party (e.g., [insurance](money-insurance.md)), in contrast to aleatory contract.
- Independent contractor agreement - the relationship between a freelance contractor and client.
- Licensing agreement - the relationship between a licensor and licensee.
- Management contract - operational control of a business is "vested" for a separate entity to [manage it](mgmt-1_why.md_why.md) for a fee.
- Open-book contract - the buyer and seller of services agrees which costs are "remunerable" and the margin the supplier can add to those costs.
- Pet care agreement - clarifies what to do in the case of a pet dying, including what they need.
- Retainer agreement - a distinctive work-for-hire contract halfway between independent contractor and employee that involves advance payment for professional work to be defined later (e.g., establish an attorney/client relationship).
- Risk sharing agreement - the relationship between an insurer and an insured.
- Sales representative agreement - the relationship between a salesperson and vendor, with the calculation for how they receive commission.

Agreements involving a third party:

- Estoppel certificate - a document signed by a tenant for a transaction between a landlord selling real estate to a third party.
- Non-compete agreement - a specified period of time when an employee can't work for their company's competitor, can be for a period of time *after* terminating employment or simply for the duration of being employed there.
- Non-disparagement agreement - prohibitions for an employee to speak poorly about the entity they're contracted with or another entity/idea altogether, typically for a window of time or in perpetuity.
- Non-solicitation agreement - prohibitions for an employee to utilize a company's clients, customers, and contact lists for personal gain upon leaving the company.
- Nondisclosure/confidentiality agreement - legal protections regarding sharing confidential information with others beyond a business relationship (e.g., [intellectual property](legal-ip.md), private information), can be reciprocal.
- Novated lease - a motor vehicle lease where the contract obligations have been moved from one party to another ("novated").
- Parent company guarantee - a parent company promising to guarantee their subsidiary's performance as a contractor.

Agreements to resolve trouble with a different agreement:

- Collateral assurance - a bond external to a deed that's over and beyond that deed.
- Employment separation agreement - formally defines the termination of employment.
- Penal bond - the obligee is responsible to perform, or they must deliver a penalty repayment to the obligor.
- Precontract - a legal contract that precedes another, historically was used for a promise of marriage to legally nullify later marriages.
- Prenuptial/postnuptial agreement - clarifies a married couple's affairs and assets in the event of a separation or divorce.
- Release - typically a liability release, where a customer releases some aspect of obligation from the other party.
- Settlement agreement - contract that ends a lawsuit if certain concessions are meant, which typically means paying cash to the plaintiff.
- Security agreement - property is established as "collateral" in case a debt isn't repaid.
- Side letter - a second separate agreement that resolves issues that aren't in a primary agreement.