What does "rescission of a contract" involve?

Rescission of a contract is a legal remedy that entails declaring the contract void, effectively invalidating it, and restoring the parties involved to their original positions prior to the contract being formed. This means that if a contract is rescinded, the parties go back to where they stood before the contract was executed, as if the contract never existed. This process can remediate situations where the contract was formed due to misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, or mutual mistake.

In this context, the focus is on the restoration of the original state of the parties, making it clear that rescission is about undoing the contractual agreement rather than modifying it, increasing penalties, or addressing prior agreements. It emphasizes the importance of fairness, ensuring that none of the parties is unjustly enriched or disadvantaged as a result of the dissolved agreement.