Question Presented
Lyanna Snow entered a contract to sell Old Snow Place to Walter Bolton. The contract contained blank spaces for the page numbers of a book where the specific land description could be found. Is the contract valid?
Brief Answer
Yes. Under Mississippi Annotated Code § 15-3-1 all contracts must be in writing and signed by the contracting parties or their legal representatives. The Courts have established a standard that contracts for the sale of land must have definitive terms including describing the land with reasonable certainty. If the land is not described with reasonable certainty in the written contract, the contact may be deemed valid if the deficiency can be easily corrected. Lyanna Snow entered into a written contract …show more content…
Code Ann. § 15-3-1 and the land must be identified with reasonable certainty. Identification deficiencies can be repaired with extrinsic evidence. Jones, 37 So. 2d 625 at 394. Jones v. Hickson was brought on appeal for the courts to decide certain elements within the contract were ambiguous enough to meet the statue of frauds. Id. at 388. The two parties entered into a written contract for the sale of 120 acres of “Old Satcher Place”. Id. at 389. The description omitted the county and state of the land. In addition, the contract made no mention of the deed that was supposed to be executed in the sale. The court held that the omission of the type of deed to be executed did not make the contract voidable. They reasoned that the type of deed to be executed could be assumed. Id. at 395. The court also held that contract was not void under the statue of frauds. In reaffirming the decision of the lower of court, it established that the omission of the state and county was a latent defect and it could be easily corrected with evidence such as a written aid. Id. at 395. I that although the term did not mention the state or county, the description did not meet the statute of fraud
Lyanna Snow entered a contract to sell Old Snow Place to Walter Bolton. The contract contained blank spaces for the page numbers of a book where the specific land description could be found. Is the contract valid?
Brief Answer
Yes. Under Mississippi Annotated Code § 15-3-1 all contracts must be in writing and signed by the contracting parties or their legal representatives. The Courts have established a standard that contracts for the sale of land must have definitive terms including describing the land with reasonable certainty. If the land is not described with reasonable certainty in the written contract, the contact may be deemed valid if the deficiency can be easily corrected. Lyanna Snow entered into a written contract …show more content…
Code Ann. § 15-3-1 and the land must be identified with reasonable certainty. Identification deficiencies can be repaired with extrinsic evidence. Jones, 37 So. 2d 625 at 394. Jones v. Hickson was brought on appeal for the courts to decide certain elements within the contract were ambiguous enough to meet the statue of frauds. Id. at 388. The two parties entered into a written contract for the sale of 120 acres of “Old Satcher Place”. Id. at 389. The description omitted the county and state of the land. In addition, the contract made no mention of the deed that was supposed to be executed in the sale. The court held that the omission of the type of deed to be executed did not make the contract voidable. They reasoned that the type of deed to be executed could be assumed. Id. at 395. The court also held that contract was not void under the statue of frauds. In reaffirming the decision of the lower of court, it established that the omission of the state and county was a latent defect and it could be easily corrected with evidence such as a written aid. Id. at 395. I that although the term did not mention the state or county, the description did not meet the statute of fraud