Lemen v. Sidener
Lemen v. Sidener
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
As commenced, the action was one to enforce specific performance of contract for the sale of real property in Texas, but the action developed into one for specific performance or for the damages caused by the failure of the defendants to perform the contract. A demurrer to the amended petition was sustained, and from that ruling, the plaintiffs appeal.
The amended petition alleged that the plaintiffs were partners, were engaged in the real-estate business and owned a large tract of land in Kiowa county, Kansas; that through the defendants they mortgaged that land to secure money which they invested in a large tract of land in Texas; that they were unable to pay the interest on the mortgage; that, at the request of the defendants, the holder of
The amended petition does not allege that any contract or memorandum was signed by the defendants nor that the auctioneer or the clerk were in writing authorized to sign any contract or memorandum for them.
The following memorandum made in his book by the clerk con
“Sec. 53, Blk. l-B&B.
680 acres
Entire sec. up.
(Mr. Sidener
$20.50
Mullinsville, Kansas.)
$13,940.00.”
The defendants argue that the contracts for the sale of real property came within the provisions of the statute of frauds of the state of Kansas because no memoranda thereof were signed by them, nor by anyone for them authorized in writing so to do. The plaintiffs argué that the defendants are estopped to urge the statute of frauds, and that that estoppel is pleaded in the petition.
Section 33-106 of thé Revised Statutes in part reads:
“No action shall be brought whereby to charge a party upon . . . any contract for the sale of lands . . . unless the 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, or some other person thereunto by him or her lawfully authorized in writing.”
There cannot be any question that if the contract had been made in this state for the sale of land in this state, it would not have complied with the statute of frauds because the defendants did not sign it nor in writing authorize anyone else to sign it for them. 25 R. C. L. 698 is cited. The following language is there used:
“As regards the statute of frauds, a contract for the sale of an interest in land is, as a general rule, governed by the law of the state where the land is situated. It has also been held that, if the contract is entered into in the state in which the land is situated and is unenforceable under the statute of that state, it cannot be enforced in another jurisdiction though it would have been valid in the latter jurisdiction if it had been made there and the land had been there situated. The converse of this is also maintained and it has been held that if an oral contract for the sale of an interest in land is valid in the state in which if was made and where the land was situated it may be sued on in another jurisdiction though it would have been unenforceable if it related to land situated in the state of the forum and had been there made. On the other hand the principle that a provision of the statute of the forum that ‘no action shall be brought’ on an oral contract for the sale of an interest in land has been held to relate to the remedy to the same extent as the other contracts enumerated in the statute, thereby precluding the enforcement of the contract in the state of the forum, though it was enforceable in the state where the land was situated.”
“Plaintiff pleaded the Idaho statute of frauds and offered proof that the defendant’s oral promise to pay her father’s debt did not fall within the ban of the Idaho statute and that it would be enforceable in that state. Ordinarily a contract which is valid where made is valid everywhere, but there is a well-known exception to that rule. Briefly stated, the exception is that where the contract contravenes thé settled public policy of the state whose tribunal is invoked to enforce the contract, an action on that contract will not be entertained. (Third Nat. Bank of New York v. Steel, 129 Mich. 434; Heaton v. Eldridge & Higgins, 56 Ohio St. 87; Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations, 7th ed., p. 178; 9 Cyc. 674-677; 5 R. C. L. 917, 918, 944, 945.)” (p. 617.)
Barbour v. Campbell, supra, puts this state among those to which attention is called to the last sentence of the excerpt from R. C. L.
The facts pleaded do not take this case -out of the. operation of the statute of frauds. The petition did not state a cause of action. The demurrer to it was properly sustained.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.