What is the Statute of Frauds?
Posted on Jun 2, 2014 2:55pm PDT
The statute of frauds is applied in cases where individuals agreed on an oral contract, rather than a written one. It is always wisest to have written contracts drawn up in real estate transactions, as oral contracts can be misconstrued and may be heavily debated in the future. However, there are times that individuals refuse to create a written agreement and instead agree on the terms of a sale or on various details about a property purchase verbally.
If the property owner finds problems with the home later on, he or she will need to determine if there is a statute of frauds that applies to the case. Normally, contracts regarding the transfer of land must be documented in a physical paper contract. Sometimes, if you believe that you have been cheated in regards to the sale of property, you may be able to argue this under a statute of frauds in the pleadings of a case.
In most jurisdictions, the burden of providing that a written contract exists only comes into play when the Statue of Frauds case is raised by a defendant. If the original contract has been lost or stolen, the court may say that this is enough proof to determine that the contract existed.
Lawyers often suggest that you document all land transactions in a contract in case you end up facing complications with the transfer in the future. However, if you believe that the lack of a contract has created problems, you may be able to argue a statute of frauds.
The statute of frauds may be unavailable of partial performance of the services has already occurred. If you want more information about statute of frauds cases and how they may affect your case, don't hesitate to call a local real state lawyer today for more information!