You are here: / / Writing Requirement of Statute of Frauds Met By a Number of Documents Associated...

Writing Requirement of Statute of Frauds Met By a Number of Documents Associated With Absentee Bidding at a Public Auction

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Rivera, reversed the Appellate Division and determined the plaintiff had not failed to comply with the statutory (statute of frauds) requirement of a writing in support of its breach of contract claim.  The defendant, as an absentee bidder at a public auction held by the plaintiff, successfully bid over $400,000 on an item but subsequently refused to pay for it.  The Appellate Division determined that the name of the seller was not in any of the relevant documents and therefore there was no writing which could be enforced.  The Court of Appeals disagreed and held that, because it was clear the plaintiff was acting as the seller’s agent in the bidding process, the absence of the seller’s name from the documents was not fatal to the writing requirement:

…[T]he absentee bidder form, along with the clerking sheet, provide the necessary information to establish the name of Rabizadeh as the buyer.  …

In addition to the buyer’s name, the GOL requires disclosure of “the name of the person on whose account the sale was made”.    * * *

[T]he GOL does not reference the “seller”, making it clear that the seller’s name need not be provided in order to satisfy the requirement of “the name of the person on whose account the sale was made”.

* * * It is well settled that an auctioneer serves as a consignor’s agent … . … Here, the clerking sheet lists Jenack [plaintiff] as the auctioneer, and as such it served as the agent of the seller. The clerking sheet, therefore, provides “the name of the person on whose account the sale was made” and satisfies GOL § 5701(a)(6).    …

It bears repeating in such a case as this that:

‘The Statute of Frauds was not enacted to afford persons a means of evading just obligations; nor was it intended to supply a cloak of immunity to hedging litigants lacking integrity; nor was it adopted to enable defendants to interpose the Statute as a bar to a contract fairly, and admittedly, made’ … .

Using the Statute of Frauds as a “means of evading” a “just obligation” is precisely what Rabizadeh attempts to do here, but the law and the facts foreclose him from doing so.  Rabizadeh took affirmative steps to participate in Jenack’s auction, including executing an absentee bidder form with the required personal information.  He then successfully won the bidding for item 193, closing out other interested bidders, with his $400,000 bid.  He cannot seek to avoid the consequences of his actions by ignoring the existence of a documentary trail leading to him.  Willam J Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers, Inc v Rabizadeh, 229, CtApp 12-17-13

 

You might also like
A Union Is Not an Entity Separate from Its Members—A Union, Therefore, Can Not Be Sued By a Member Unless Every Member Participated In the Action Which Gave Rise to the Suit
Where Defendant Is Represented on a Pending Charge and Seeks Leniency by Cooperation with Police in the Investigation of An Unrelated Offense, the Police Cannot Question the Defendant About the Unrelated Offense in the Absence of Counsel Unless Defendant Affirmatively Waives His Right to Counsel In Counsel’s Presence
PLAINTIFF WIRED $300,000 TO AN ACCOUNT IN DEFENDANT BANK WHICH HAD BEEN SET UP BY A FRAUDSTER TO DEFRAUD PLAINTIFF; PLAINTIFF FAILED TO PLEAD A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH DEFENDANT BANK WHICH IS REQUIRED BEFORE A DUTY (OWED TO PLAINTIFF) TO ENFORCE ITS ANTI-FRAUD PROCEDURES ARISES; THE COMPLAINT THEREFORE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (CT APP).
AFTER DEFENSE COUNSEL REPEATEDLY USED THE N-WORD (QUOTING A CO-DEFENDANT) IN CROSS-EXAMINING THE VICTIM A JUROR STOOD UP AND SAID SHE FOUND THE WORD VERY OFFENSIVE AND WOULD LEAVE IF COUNSEL USED THE WORD AGAIN; THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT CONDUCT A BUFORD HEARING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE JUROR SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED; CONVICTION AFFIRMED OVER A THREE-JUDGE DISSENT (CT APP).
Signing Checks Pursuant to a Power of Attorney Cannot Amount to Forgery 
IN A CITY WHICH DOES NOT PROVIDE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR ITS POLICE OFFICERS, AN OFFICER RECEIVING BENEFITS PURSUANT TO GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW 207-c IS NOT BARRED FROM SUING FOR GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW 205-e BENEFITS.
tenant’s failure to report income from a new job to the new york city housing authority was a sufficient reason to terminate her tenancy.
In the Face of Defendant’s Claims Defense Counsel Did Not Adequately Represent Him, Counsel’s Answering the Judge’s Questions About Defendant’s Allegations (Which Were Rejected by the Court) Did Not Place Defense Counsel in a Position Adverse to the Defendant’s

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Slip and Fall in Employee Parking Area Was Compensable Six-Year Breach of Contract Statute of Limitations Applied to Third Party Beneficiaries...