Opinion ID: 758265
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Identification of Parties

Text: 32 Citing Ades, 181 P.2d at 166, the defendants argue that the agreement to sublease is unenforceable under the Statute of Frauds because the court found that neither Lorentzen, Southwest Realty, nor Park & Shuttle were listed as parties in the original memorandum that constituted the sublease. In Ades, the New Mexico Supreme Court held that a contract involving land signed by an agent fails to satisfy the Statute of Frauds where the agent does not disclose the principal for whom the agent acts. Thus, the defendants contend that because the original memorandum did not disclose the principal for whom Manuel Chavez acted as an agent, the agreement fails to describe plaintiffs Southwest Realty and Park & Shuttle sufficiently to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. 33 We do not believe that Ades requires us to reverse the ruling in Park & Shuttle's favor, given the district court's finding that Park & Shuttle was a third party beneficiary of the contract. Although New Mexico courts have not addressed the issue, it is generally recognized that the Statute of Frauds does not require a third party beneficiary to have signed or be named in a contract in order to maintain a cause of action under the contract. See, e.g., Coleman v. Mountain Mesa Uranium Corp., 240 F.2d 12, 16 (10th Cir.1956); see also 72 Am.Jur.2d Statute of Frauds § 364 (1974) ([W]here a contract is signed by the parties to it, there is no requirement of the statute of frauds that a third party beneficiary also sign the contract.). Because the defendants do not appeal the district court's ruling that Park & Shuttle was a third party beneficiary, we may affirm the district court's ruling enforcing the contract against MRC in favor of Park & Shuttle, despite the Statute of Frauds question. 34 However, the district court did not find that Southwest Realty was a third party beneficiary of the contract. Consequently, under Ades it was necessary for the original memorandum to identify Southwest Realty as a party or identify Manuel Chavez as an agent of Southwest Realty. See Ades, 181 P.2d at 166 (agent of a party to a lease must be described as an agent in writing to meet the Statute of Frauds under New Mexico law). Modern treatises seem to have rejected the strict agency disclosure rule set forth in Ades. See 1 Restatement (Second) of Property, Landlord & Tenant § 2.2, cmt. b. Nevertheless, we feel bound to follow the clear precedent established by the New Mexico Supreme Court in Ades. As a result, the district court erred by allowing Southwest Realty to enforce the sublease against MRC, because no clear and convincing evidence was presented that Southwest Realty was named in the original memorandum or that the original memorandum identified Manuel Chavez as an agent for Southwest Realty. For this reason, we reverse the judgment and award of nominal damages in favor of Southwest Realty.