5 Cow. 162 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1825
So far as the agreement professed to bind the defendant to re-convey the land, upon being re-paid the $200 advanced by him, it was clearly within the statute of frauds, and void at law. It was a contract for the sale of lands and comes within the very
But I am also inclined to think, that there was no consideration to support the promise of the defendant, to pay the plaintiff the $600 for the land; and that on this ground he is not entitled to recover. If the legal effect and character of the transaction be the same as though the defendant had been the purchaser at the sheriff’s sale, instead of Olcott, to whose rights he succeeded, which'appears to me to be the case, then it seems to me very clear, that the defendant’s agreement was without consideration. If the sheriff’s deed had been executed and delivered, it will at once be conceded that there would have been no consideration for the promise. And the fact that the naked fee remained in the plaintiff until the deed was executed, does not, in my judg
Suppose the plaintiff, after the sale, and before the execution of the deed, (both being on the same day,) had conveyed the land in question to a third person; would his deed have passed either the legal estate, or any equitable interest to his grantee ? If not, how can any consideration to support the promise of the defendant be implied from the fact that, at the moment of making the promise, the naked fee remained in the plaintiff.
I am, therefore, of opinion that, on either of these grounds, the defendant is entitled to judgment. If the plaintiff has any remedy, it must be in Equity.
Judgment for the defendant.