Question: The Small Business Administration auctioned the assets of a business. The auction was conducted in two phases, first auctioning the property in bulk, and then piecemeal. If the piecemeal auction did not produce as much as the highest bulk bid, the bulk bidder took the property. Jack Conrad bid $20,000, the highest bulk bid. At the fall of the hammer the clerk made a memorandum of sale showing Conrad's bid.
After the piecemeal auction began, Conrad told the auctioneer he wanted to withdraw his bid, but the auctioneer refused. The piecemeal auction did not produce $20,000, so the auctioneer announced the winner of the bulk bid had bought the property. Conrad refused to pay for the property, so the SBA sued him. Was there an enforceable contract?