Producers Coke Co. v. Hoover

Citations

• 268 Pa. 104
• 110 A. 733
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 634

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Sale—Evidence—Parol evidence — Burden of proof— Modification of written contract — Sales Act of May 19, 1915, P. L. 51fS — Consideration—Part performance.</p> <p>1. It is a general rule at common law that the parties to a written agreement may modify it by a subsequent parol agreement.</p> <p>2. Under the Sales Act of May 19, 1915, P. L. 543, a parol modification of a written contract for the sale of goods exceeding in amount $500, is valid, if the modified agreement is acted upon and partly performed.</p> <p>3. In an action for a breach of a written contract for the sale of coke in amount in excess of $500, the vendor, the defendant, may prove not only that the written contract had been modified by a parol agreement to accept less coke, but also that for seven months thereafter coke had been delivered, accepted and paid for under the modified agreement. The burden of proof is on defendant to prove the modification of the contract and part performance of the modified contract.</p> <p>4. In such case, evidence that plaintiff, during the seven months after the modification of the original contract, bought other coke of defendant at the market price, is relevant only as tending to show a modification of the original contract.</p> <p>5. The consideration for the modified contract, as well as the original contract, is the mutual obligations of the parties.</p> <p>6. Part performance will validate a parol contract for the sale of personalty.</p>