Morrison v. Herrick

Citations

• 130 Ill. 631
• 22 N.E. 537

Syllabus

<p>1. Statute or Frauds—verbal sale or lease of land—part performance, to take a case out of the statute. In equity, verbal contracts for the sale of lands will be enforced when they have been so far performed by one party that to permit the other party to repudiate them, would, of itself, be a fraud. Equity will not permit a suitor to make use of the Statute of Frauds as a means of perpetrating a fraud, as that would defeat the very purpose for which the statute was enacted.</p> <p>2. Taking and retaining possession of land by the purchaser, with the consent of the vendor, and making valuable improvements, constitute such part performance as will justify a court of equity in enforcing the oral contract.</p> <p>3. To take a verbal contract out of the Statute of Frauds, however, the acts of part performance, whatever they may be, must refer exclusively to the contract, and be such as would not have been performed but for the contract. They must be such as can not be explained consistently with any other contract than the one alleged,—that is, they must refer to, result from, and be done in pursuance of, such contract.</p> <p>4. If, therefore, possession is relied upon as an act of part performance, it must be possession under the contract sought to be enforced. The continuance of possession taken before the contract was made, is not usually held to be sufficient. This rule applies especially to cases where the previous holding was under a lease.</p> <p>5. Same—extension of lease by verbal agreement—continued possession—making improvements, eta. Where, before the termination of a lease, there was an oral agreement between the landlord and tenant for a new lease of five years, the fact that the tenant refused to accept a new lease for only one year, upon the express ground that he was entitled to a lease for five years, and the promise of the lessor to make a lease for the five years, is evidence that the possession of the lessee after the termination of the original l