Case Name: Nicol Torres et al., Plaintiffs, v. John Thompson et al., Defendants
Court: New York Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1899-11
Citations: 29 Misc. 526
Docket Number: 
Parties: Nicol Torres et al., Plaintiffs, v. John Thompson et al., Defendants.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Miscellaneous Reports
Volume: 29
Pages: 526–527

Head Matter:
Nicol Torres et al., Plaintiffs, v. John Thompson et al., Defendants.
(Supreme Court, Westchester Trial Term,
November, 1899.)
Statute of Frauds — A grantee, who has paid the consideration on an oral agreement for the sale of lands, cannot rescind and recover it.
Although a contract for the sale of lands is not in writing, a grantee cannot, after having paid the consideration, refuse to accept a conveyance and recover the consideration, nor can he recover its value where that value was work and materials.
Action to recover for labor and material in building houses for the defendants. Motion by the plaintiffs for a new trial on the minutes.
Wilson Brown, Jr., for plaintiffs.
Robert E. Farley for defendants.

Opinion:
Gaynor, J.:
It was pleaded as a defense that the work was done and material furnished under an agreement that the defendants should pay for the same by conveying to the plaintiffs certain land, and that they had tendered such conveyance. The contract was oral, and when oral evidence was offered of it by the defendants the plaintiffs' objection to it was overruled. The exception to such ruling is not good. True, a contract for the sale of real property is void unless in writing and signed by the grantor. It does not need to be signed by the grantee; and when he pays the consideration he cannot refuse to accept the conveyance and recover back what he has paid. In such case it is only the grantor who. can raise the question of no written contract (Collier v. Coates, 17 Barb. 471; Galvin v. Prentice, 45 N. Y. 162).
The motion is denied.