Lowther v. Potter

Citations

• 221 F. 881
• 137 C.C.A. 451
• 1915 U.S. App. LEXIS 1381

Syllabus

<p>L Courts @=366—United States Courts—State Laws as Rules of Decision.</p> <p>The federal courts are bound by the construction given the Kentucky statute of frauds by the Court of Appeals of that state. .</p> <p>|Kd. Note.—For other cases, see Courts, Cent. Dig. §§ 954-957, 960-968; Dee. Dig. @=366.</p> <p>State laws as rules of decision in federal courts, see notes to Wilson v. Perrin, 11 0. 0. A. 71; Hill v. Hite, 29 C. C. A. 553.]</p> <p>2. Frauds, Statute of <3=117—Sale of Land—Sufficiency of Memorandum —Undelivered Deed.</p> <p>Under Ky. St. § 470, providing that no action shall be brought to charge any person upon any contract for the sale of real estate, unless the promise, contract, agreement, etc., or some memorandnm or note thereof, be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by his authorized agent, where oral negotiations for the purchase of land were had, and in connection therewith deeds were drawn up which were signed by the grantor and retained by him with the understanding that they were not to be delivered until he had consulted a lawyer and found them in form satisfactory to him, and the grantor understood that there was no deal until the deed was delivered, and did not allow the grantee to understand otherwise, there was no enforceable contract of sale, the grantor having subsequently refused to deliver the deeds because of erroneous advice from his attorney, since, while the intention with which the memorandum is signed may not bo important, where there has been in fact a completed agreement, >so that both parties understand that the negotiations are finished and that the contract is made, where the only memorandum ever made takes the form of a deed in terms of present conveyance, the delivery of which is expressly withheld, so that it may not take effect unless approved by the grantor’s attorney, the intent is of the essence of the transaction, and, there being no intent to deliver the deed, there was no completed oral co