Walker v. Ireton

Facts

In July 1973, Walker (Plaintiff) and Ireton (Defendant) negotiated for the sale of Defendant’s farm. They agreed to a purchase price of $30,000, and Plaintiff was to take possession in January 1974. The parties agreed that they would execute a written agreement for the sale of the farm. The parties later agreed to increase the price by $500. Sometime after they reached an agreement, Plaintiff sold his existing farm and leased space to continue his horse breeding and training business. Plaintiff delivered a $50 deposit as agreed. A month later he obtained a title abstract for $36 and paid $75 to have an attorney review it. He then delivered an installment payment of $7,612 per their agreement. Defendant did not endorse or deposit either of these checks. Defendant then informed Plaintiff that he would not go ahead with the sale and refused the payments. Plaintiffwas then evicted from the space that he was leasing. The agreement was never reduced to writing, and Plaintiff did not make improvements to Defendant’s farm. Plaintiff sued for specific performance of the oral contract. The trial court granted Defendant summary judgment because the statute of frauds precluded enforcement of the agreement and that equity did not compel the court to enforce it. Plaintiff appealed.