Breach of contract is the violation of a contractual obligation. In the context of law, breach of contract also refers to a legal cause of action in the event of a violation of obligation by any of the parties in a legally binding contract.
When an individual or entity in a legally binding oral or written contract violates its contractual obligation, it is considered a breach of contract. A party can breach a contract when it fails to fulfill its promise, interferes while the other party is fulfilling its duty, or acts in such a way that it is prevented from completing a contractual obligation. Breach of contract is one of the most common types of civil litigation. Though breach of contract is an act, it's mostly used in the context of law to refer to the legal cause of action.