This was originally published on the SGR Blog.
Was Contract Enforceable/Barred Under the Statute of Frauds?
On January 23, 2006, Yaron Cohen, as purchaser, and Vivian Holder, as seller, executed a document purporting to be a contract for the sale of a four-family brownstone located in Brooklyn, for the purchase price of $300,000. But the document, which was provided by Cohen, did not indicate the date or place of the closing.
About 17 months later, Cohen sent a letter to Holder setting a time of the essence closing date of May 22, 2007. The closing did not occur on that date and Cohen commenced an action seeking specific performance. Holder interposed an answer and asserted counterclaims seeking damages for fraud and for rescission of the purported contract. In 2015, Holder transferred the property to 143 Hancock St., LLC. Cohen then filed a separate action against 143 Hancock. Holder and Corey Holder, as executor of Vivian’s estate, was substituted as the defendant in the action commenced against Holder. The two actions were consolidated.
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