Law

I. Is there a valid contract
A. Mutual Assent.   There is mutual assent when meeting of the offer and the acceptance upon the thing and the consideration which constitute the contract.  There is also mutual assent when there is concurrence of the wills of the parties to a contract with respect to the object and the consideration.  In this case, there was a mutual assent to buy a house at a particular price.

B. Offer and Acceptance.  Usually, contracts start when an offer which is initially made by one party.  When the offer is accepted by the other party and its acceptance is communicated to the other party there is a meeting of minds between the parties.

1.  Offer of Dan.  Dan initially made an offer to sell Pat a house and that he would help Pat with the financing.
2.  Acceptance of Pat.  Pat accepted the offer to buy  the house at the price of 250,000 and that its acceptance was communicated to the Dan.

C. Lawful Object.  To have a valid contract the object of the contract must be lawful.  A lawful object is that which is not forbidden by law, is of such a nature that it permitted would not defeat any law, is not fraudulent, does not involve injury to the person or property of another or is not regarded as immoral or opposed to public policy.  In this case, the lawful object of the contract is the house which Pat is interested in buying.

D. Lawful Consideration.  The third requirement of a valid contract is lawful consideration.  Consideration is simply the essential reason why the contracting parties entered into a contract.  It is the moving force or the direct and immediate reason which justifies the creation of an obligation.  In contracts, the consideration must exist at the time the contract was entered into or that it must be lawful otherwise the contract will be void.  The consideration for the house is 250,000 which Pat intends to buy from Dan.

II. Defenses
While the essential elements of the contract are present making it a valid contract, it does not follow that that contract is legally enforceable in court.  If Pat decides to bring an action in court to compel Dan to sell to her the home, Dan may allege that the contract is not legally enforceable because it is not in writing which is required under the principle of the Statute of Frauds.

A. Statute of Frauds.  Dan may allege as a defense that there is no written contract between the parties to sell the land.  Pat will not be able to present any evidence of the agreement to sell since there was only an oral agreement to the sale.  The Statute of Frauds imposes additional requirements before a contract may be legally enforceable in court.  The Statute of Frauds requires that certain contracts must be in writing and that the document must be signed by all parties to be bound by the contract.  For some contracts, it is not therefore enough that there is consent, lawful object and lawful consideration for the contract to be enforced in court.  The purpose of the Statute of Frauds is to ensure that there is an evidence of the agreement between the parties to avoid fraud.  The requirement is necessary for evidential purpose only.  If one of the parties disputes the agreement to sell the house then no action can be maintained in court to enforce the agreement between the parties.

A contract involving the sale of land or piece of land is covered under the Statute of Frauds.  The sale of home is presumed to include the sale of the land on which the home is built.

B. Partially PerformedExecuted Contract.  However, there are exceptions to the Statute of Frauds.  This means that while the contract does not appear in writing the same may still be enforced in court.  One of the exceptions is when the contract has been partially performed and executed.

1. Pat moved in to the house.  In this case, there are indications that the contract of sale of the piece of land has been partially performed.  One of these indications is that Pat has moved in to the house she purchased from Dan.  Pat has been living in the house for six months before Dan decides to repudiate the contract.

2.  Installation of furniture.  Pat also installed carpeting, window coverings and a patio cover.  In addition, Pat has been sending checks to Dan in the amount of 1,000 as commission which he religiously cashed every month.

Conclusion.  Though there is no evidence of a written agreement between Dan and Pat, the contract of sale has been partially performed and executed.  Dan cannot invoke the defense that the contract of sale does not appear in writing to prevent its fulfillment.  The court will rule that the contract is an exception to the requirement of Statute of Frauds and is enforceable in court.