Court Opinion

ID: 9680779
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:38:33.757621+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:30.453467
License: Public Domain

REINHARD, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the opinion of the majority but I feel constrained to express my view further on the subject.
I concede that based on the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court in Dunham v. Hartman, 153 Mo. 625, 55 S.W. 233 (1900), a judicial auction of real estate is within the Statute of Frauds. However, I cannot agree with the logic of that principle.
The generally recited purpose of the Statute of Frauds is to prevent fraud upon the buyer. That rationale does not exist in a court-ordered public auction of real estate. In such a case, the terms and conditions of the sale are part of the order and the applicable statutes require publication of both the description of the land and the terms of the sale. Bids are taken publicly and the acceptance thereof is made subject to the approval of the court.
To permit a purchaser to avoid any obligation by the mere rejection of the contract imposes a great hardship and considerable expense upon the seller. In a non-judicial sale the seller is permitted to immediately attempt to sell again. That simple procedure is not permitted under a judicial sale. The statutes require the executor, administrator, or sheriff to seek further orders of the court, requiring additional publications and expiration of a statutory period of time before the property can be resold. The mechanics of having a memorandum signed before the dispersal of the crowd at a public auction is impractical if not impossible. A reading of 72 Am.Jur.2d, Statute of Frauds, §§ 115, 658 and 37 C.J.S. Frauds, Statute of § 137 indicates that the modern view held and adopted by a majority of the courts is that no memorandum of writing is required at a judicial auction.