A landscaper delegates contract duties to a gardener with the homeowner's consent. The gardener fails to perform. Who remains liable to the homeowner if no novation occurs?

• A. Only the gardener.
• B. The landscaper remains liable to the homeowner.
• C. The homeowner may recover directly from the gardener only.
• D. Novation automatically substitutes the gardener.

Answer: (B)

Delegation of duties doesn’t automatically release the original party from liability. When a contract is formed, the promisor and promisee stay in privity unless a novation occurs. Delegating performance to a gardener with the homeowner’s consent creates a substitute performer, but it doesn’t remove the landscaper’s obligation under the contract unless there’s a novation (a new contract replacing the old one with the gardener as the obligor).

Because no novation happened, the landscaper remains liable to the homeowner for the contract’s performance. The homeowner can seek remedies from the landscaper for breach of contract, even though the gardener did the work. The gardener would only be directly liable to the landscaper (or to the homeowner if there were a separate contract), not to the homeowner by virtue of the original contract.