Legal Question in Business Law in California

First, I have to make a little speech about the word "illegal." It can have different meanings. In the strictest sense, something is illegal if it's something you can be arrested for, and perhaps fined, or sent to jail or prison, like murder or passing over a double yellow line. At the other extreme, there are things we do that break agreements and might result in someone bringing a lawsuit against us, like being a week late with the rent check, or shipping blue when the contract clearly says ship yellow.

Making a copy of a contract is not illegal in either sense.

Who do you mean by "the person?" Do you mean a party to the contract? I guess it doesn't matter, because there is nothing illegal about anyone making a copy of a contract, whether they are a party to it or not, nor does it matter whether anyone knows about the copying. If I contract with the local Ford dealer to buy one of their cars, it makes no difference to me whether they make one copy of the contract or ten, nor what they do with the copies. Of course, if my personal information is on the contract, I wouldn't want the Ford people to be sending copies to the Mafia, but if they make copies for the service department and the credit department and the factory, that's quite legal.

Also, shredding one original of a contract probably has little significance. The piece of paper is just evidence of an agreement. Shredding it does not destroy, rescind or nullify the agreement or modify the rights or obligations of the parties. Usually, each party to a contract will have a duplicate original. Either or any is sufficient. If all originals are lost or destroyed, the contract is still in effect; it is just harder to administer it and to prove its terms if a lawsuit is brought.

Having said all this, I have to add that making copies and shredding originals, or pretending to do so, just might be evidence of, or steps in, committing a fraud! Aha! Fraud is usually a civil wrong, for which the injured party can sue for money damages -- but sometimes fraud is sufficiently evil to be prosecuted as a crime. In order to sue for fraud, the intended victim must show a deceptive act by the defendant, deception of the plaintiff/victim, reasonable behavior in the circumstances by the plaintiff/victim, and damage or harm to the victim caused by the fraudulent deception.

So, even though copying and shredding, or pretending to shred, are not in themselves "illegal" or even wrong, when the intent and the effect is to defraud someone, the situation may be grounds for a lawsuit that will be successful, but the victim must show actual harm to recover damages.

We really need some more specific facts to help you, Given what little you have said the short general answer is no. Shredding the original contract might be seen as an effective cancellation of the contract but I would get a writing that says that they agree the contact is no longer valid and/or binding. Don't shred that document.

Hope that helps and good luck.