The Statute of Frauds and the Uniform Commercial Code

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Statute of Frauds The primary purpose of the “Statute of Frauds” (SOF) is to protect the interests of parties once they are involved in litigating a contract dispute (Spagnola, 2008). The relevant statutes are reliant upon state jurisdictions to determine whether the contract falls under the SOF, and whether the writing of the contract satisfies the requirements of the statute of frauds (Spagnola, 2008). However, all contracts are not covered under the SOF. In essence, for a contract to be deemed as legal by definition of the SOF, there must be verification of the following requirements for formation of the contract, which are as follows: (1) There must be least two parties to the contract, (2) There must be a mutual agreement and acceptance on the price to pay for goods and services offered, (3) The subject matter or reason for entering the contract, must be clearly understood by all parties to the contract, (4) and there must be a stipulated time for performance of duties under the contractual obligations (Spagnola, 2008). Lastly, there are five categories of contracts that are covered under the SOF, which are as follows: (1) The transfer of real property interests, (2) Contracts that are not performable within one year, (3) Contracts in consideration of marriage, (4) Surtees and guarantees (answering to the debt of another), and (5) Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.) provisions regarding the sale of goods or services, legally valued over five hundred dollars ($500.00) (Spagnola, 2008). Hypothetical Polly owns two commercial properties in down town Chicago valued at one (1) million dollars ($1,000,000.00), which she bought for the purpose of renting to entrepreneurs that are striving to open and operate profitable busine... ... middle of paper ... ...useless car to a junk yard to recover some loss, but the difference of the re-sale of the junk-car would be a significant loss. Though there were no adequate assurances to the contract, anticipatory repudiation is the only probable remedy for Jack. However, the outcome would weigh on the predominant factor test, which is met because Tom is covered as a merchant because he is operating in his usual daily business, and Jack is the buyer. The sole purpose of the contract was for Tom to sell Jack a car, and for Jack to buy a car from Tom. The UCC, though less stringent than the statute of frauds, does effectively regulate commercial transfers allowing the free market to operate without diminishing the integrity of trade. Works Cited Spagnola, L. A. (2008). Contracts For Paralegals: Legal Principles and Practical Applications New York: McGaw-Hill/Irwin.

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