Question

On December 15, Lisa, a landlord, entered into an oral agreement with Tom to lease apartment 5W to Tom for one year starting on January 1, at a rental of $2,000 per month. On the same day Lisa hired Jarvis as superintendent of the building for a period of one year starting January 1 at a salary of $5,000 per month. On December 20, Lisa changed her mind and notified Tom and Jarvis that she would not rent to Tom or employ Jarvis. (a) In an action by Tom against Lisa, judgment for whom if Lisa pleads the Statute of Frauds as a defense

Answer 1

Judgment for Tom.

Since Lisa is pleading statue of frauds as defense, her argument would not hold as statue of frauds refers to the contracts in writing while this was an oral contract. According to GOL5-703, all contracts for a lease of a real estate for over a year must be in writing, but since this agreement was for only one year, the oral agreement would be enforceable and no written contract is required. Hence Lisa's arguement with regards to statue of frauds will not hold in court.