Geist v. Diversified Financial Planners, Inc.
Geist v. Diversified Financial Planners, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Intervenor-appellant Randall R. Geist (Geist) brings an interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s denial of his petition to vacate court approval of report of sale of certain real estate located in Newton County, Indiana.
The facts relevant to this appeal disclose that defendants-appellees Katherine Janes and Virginia Sampson (Janes and Sampson) and plaintiff-appellee Diversified Financial Planners, Inc. (DFP) each owned an undivided Vs-interest in real estate located in Newton County, Indiana.
As a down payment on the property, Geist wrote a check on DFP’s account for 5% of the purchase price. On August 30, 1989, the commissioners filed a report of the sale which the trial court approved that same day. The commissioners deposited Geist’s check in the Morocco branch of the Demotte State Bank on September 1, 1989, and paid various fees and advertising ex
Geist’s sole claim on interlocutory appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his petition to vacate court approval of report of sale because the sales agreement did not comply with the statute of frauds. IND. CODE § 32-2-1-1 (1988 Ed.) provides in pertinent part:
“No action shall be brought in any of the following cases:
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Fourth. Upon any contract for the sale of lands ...[.]
Unless the promise, contract or agreement upon which such action shall be brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith....”
Janes, Sampson, and DFP argue that the notice of sale, Geist’s check, and the commissioners’ report of sale are sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the statute of frauds; however, we need not address that issue. As this Court noted in Beeson v. Pierce (1912), 51 Ind.App. 201, 204, 98 N.E. 380, 381: “Judicial sales made by and under the supervision of a court are not within the statute of frauds, and are binding on the purchaser without any written contract or memorandum of sale, it being the confirmation of the sale by the court which takes it out of the statute.” The instant sale was a judicial sale made under order of the trial court; therefore, the court did not err in denying Geist’s petition to vacate court approval of report of sale.
Affirmed.
. Defendant-appellee Federal Land Bank of Louisville holds the mortgage on the property.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.