Statute of Frauds Precluded Recovery for Both Contract and Quantum Meruit Causes of Action
The Second Department ruled that an oral contract, as well as a related quantum meruit claim, were not enforceable under the statute of frauds (General Obligations Law):
A party’s admission of the existence and essential terms of an oral agreement is sufficient to take the agreement out of the statute of frauds… . However, if the parties dispute “the very terms and conditions of the alleged oral” agreement, the statute of frauds applies … . In the instant case, the defendants deny that they agreed to pay the plaintiff compensation based upon a percentage of any particular number. Thus, the Supreme Court correctly determined that there was no admission by the defendants as to the essential terms of the alleged contract.
With respect to the second cause of action, which sought compensation in quantum meruit, General Obligations Law § 5-701(a)(10) specifically recites that the requirement of a writing executed by the party to be charged applies to bar enforcement not only of an oral agreement to pay compensation for services rendered in negotiating the sale or leasing of real estate or an interest in a business, but also of “a contract implied in fact or in law” covering the same subject matter. Camhi v Tedesco Realty, LLC, 2013 NY Slip Op 02368, 2011-08356, 2012-02256, Index No 14472/10, 2nd Dept, 4-10-13