Statute of Frauds Flashcards
§110.Classes of Contracts Covered. [1.5]
(1)The following classes of contracts are subject to a statute, commonly called the Statute of Frauds, forbidding enforcement unless there is a written memorandum or an applicable exception:
M (a) a contract made upon consideration of marriage (the Marriage provision);
Y (b) a contract that is not to be performed within one Year from the making thereof (the one-year provision)
L (c) a contract for the sale of an interest in Land (the land contract provision);
E (d) a contract of an executor or administrator to answer for a duty of his decedent (the Executor-administrator provision);
G (e) a contract for the sale of Goods greater than $500 (UCC)
S (f) a contract to answer for the duty of another (the Suretyship provision);
….(5)In many states other classes of contracts are subject to a requirement of a writing.
§130.Contract Not to Be Performed Within a Year.
(1)Where any promise in a contract cannot be fully performed within a year from the time the contract is made, all promises in the contract are within the Statute of Frauds until one party to the contract completes his performance. (CRABTREE v ELIZIBETH ARDEN SALES CORP)
(2)When one party to a contract has completed his performance, the one-year provision of the Statute does not prevent enforcement of the promises of other parties.
§130.Contract Not to Be Performed Within a Year. cmt. a.
a.Possibility of performance within one year. The English Statute of Frauds applied to an action “upon any agreement that is not to be performed within the space of one year from the making thereof.” The design was said to be not to trust to the memory of witnesses for a longer time than one year, but the statutory language was not appropriate to carry out that purpose. The result has been a tendency to construction narrowing the application of the statute. Under the prevailing interpretation, the enforceability of a contract under the one-year provision does not turn on the actual course of subsequent events, nor on the expectations of the parties as to the probabilities. Contracts of uncertain duration are simply excluded; the provision covers only those contracts whose performance cannot possibly be completed within a year.
§125.Contract to Transfer, Buy, or Pay for an Interest in Land.
(1)A promise to transfer to any person any interest in land is within the Statute of Frauds.
(2)A promise to buy any interest in land is within the Statute of Frauds, irrespective of the person to whom the transfer is to be made.
(3)When a transfer of an interest in land has been made, a promise to pay the price, if originally within the Statute of Frauds, ceases to be within it unless the promised price is itself in whole or in part an interest in land.
(4)Statutes in most states except from the land contract and one-year provisions of the Statute of Frauds short-term leases and contracts to lease, usually for a term not longer than one year.
Waddle v. Elrod
§110.Classes of Contracts Covered. 1(b)
(b)a contract to answer for the duty of another (the suretyship provision);
§115.Novation.
A contract that is itself accepted in satisfaction of a previously existing duty of a third person to the promisee is not within the Statute of Frauds as a contract to answer for the duty of another.
§116.Main Purpose; Advantage to Surety.
A contract that all or part of a duty of a third person to the promisee shall be satisfied is not within the Statute of Frauds as a promise to answer for the duty of another if the consideration for the promise is in fact or apparently desired by the promisor mainly for his own economic advantage, rather than in order to benefit the third person. If, however, the consideration is merely a premium for insurance, the contract is within the Statute.
if you promise to pay for another person’s debt for your own economic debt
§131.General Requisites of a Memorandum.
Unless additional requirements are prescribed by the particular statute, a contract within the Statute of Frauds is enforceable if it is evidenced by any writing,
(a) signed by or on behalf of the party to be charged, which
(a) reasonably identifies the subject matter of the contract,
(b) sufficiently indicate that a contract has been made between the parties or offered by the signer to the other party, and
(c)states with reasonable certainty the essential terms of the unperformed promises in the contract.
(d) UNDER LAND PROVISION ONLY - sufficiently clear description of the land
§131.General Requisites of a Memorandum. cmt c
c. Rationale. The primary purpose of the Statute is evidentiary, to require reliable evidence of the existence and terms of the contract and to prevent enforcement through fraud or perjury of contracts never in fact made. The contents of the writing must be such as to make successful fraud unlikely, but the possibility need not be excluded that some other subject matter or person than those intended will also fall within the words of the writing. Where only an evidentiary purpose is served, the requirement of a memorandum is read in the light of the dispute which arises and the admissions of the party to be charged; there is no need for evidence on points not in dispute.
§132. Several Writings.
The memorandum may consist of several writings if one of the writings is signed and the writings in the circumstances clearly indicate that they relate to the same transaction or subject matter. (WADDLE v. ELROD)
Parol evidence may be produced to establish how the relate to each other (CRABTREE v ELIZIBETH ARDEN SALES CORP)
§135.Who Must Sign.
Where a memorandum of a contract within the Statute is signed by fewer than all parties to the contract and the Statute is not otherwise satisfied, the contract is enforceable against the signers but not against the others.
§2–201.Formal Requirements; Statute of Frauds. [1-3.3]
(1)Except as otherwise provided in this section a contract for the sale of goods for the price of $500 or more is not enforceable by way of action or defense unless there is some writing sufficient to indicate that a contract for sale has been made between the parties and signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought or by his authorized agent or broker. A writing is not insufficient because it omits or incorrectly states a term agreed upon but the contract is not enforceable under this paragraph beyond the quantity of goods shown in such writing.
(2)Between merchants if within a reasonable time a writing in confirmation of the contract and sufficient against the sender is received and the party receiving it has reason to know its contents, it satisfies the requirements of subsection (1) against such party unless written notice of objection to its contents is given within 10 days after it is received.
(3)A contract which does not satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) but which is valid in other respects is enforceable
(a)if the goods are to be specially manufactured for the buyer and are not suitable for sale to others in the ordinary course of the seller’s business and the seller, before notice of repudiation is received and under circumstances which reasonably indicate that the goods are for the buyer, has made either a substantial beginning of their manufacture or commitments for their procurement; or
(b)if the party against whom enforcement is sought admits in his pleading, testimony or otherwise in court that a contract for sale was made, but the contract is not enforceable under this provision beyond the quantity of goods admitted; or
(c)with respect to goods for which payment has been made and accepted or which have been received and accepted (Sec. 2–606).
§2–201.Formal Requirements; Statute of Frauds. cmt 1
1.The required writing need not contain all the material terms of the contract and such material terms as are stated need not be precisely stated. All that is required is that the writing afford a basis for believing that the offered oral evidence rests on a real transaction. It may be written in lead pencil on a scratch pad. It need not indicate which party is the buyer and which the seller. The only term which must appear is the quantity term which need not be accurately stated but recovery is limited to the amount stated. The price, time and place of payment or delivery, the general quality of the goods, or any particular warranties may all be omitted.
§129.Action in Reliance; Specific Performance.
A contract for the transfer of an interest in land may be specifically enforced notwithstanding failure to comply with the Statute of Frauds if it is established that the party seeking enforcement, in reasonable reliance on the contract and on the continuing assent of the party against whom enforcement is sought, has so changed his position that injustice can be avoided only by specific enforcement.
§130.Contract Not to Be Performed Within a Year. (2)
(2)When one party to a contract has completed his performance, the one-year provision of the Statute does not prevent enforcement of the promises of other parties.
