Gramatan Home Investors Corp. v. Whittemore

Supreme Court of Vermont
Gramatan Home Investors Corp. v. Whittemore, 147 Vt. 648 (Vt. 1986)
518 A.2d 32; 1986 Vt. LEXIS 421

Gramatan Home Investors Corp. v. Whittemore

Opinion of the Court

Plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s holding that, by failing to submit documentary evidence of assignment, plaintiffs failed to establish their right to foreclose on a note and mortgage originally executed by the defendants. It is well established that the Statute of Frauds is waived if parol evidence is offered without objection to prove the existence of a contract. Couture v. Lowery, 122 Vt. 239, 243, 168 A.2d 295, 298 (1961); Taplin v. Hinckley Fibre Co., 97 Vt. 184, 187, 122 A.2d 426, 427 (1923). Defendants here waived their Statute of Frauds defense by failing to object to oral testimony as to the existence of an assignment of the note and mortgage. Although the written documents were not placed in evidence, testimony introduced by plaintiffs without objection supported their contention that the note and mortgage were assigned from Home Investors Trust d/b/a Gramatan Co. to Home Investors Co. to Gramatan Home Investors Corporation. Therefore, it was error to dismiss the action for failure to establish a prima facie case.

Reversed and remanded.

Reference

Full Case Name
GRAMATAN HOME INVESTORS CORP. Gramatan Company and Home Investors Company v. Howard WHITTEMORE and Dorothy Whittemore
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published