Under the statute of frauds, a contract for the sale of real property must be evidenced by a writing, pursuant to General Obligations Law § 5-703[1]. In order to satisfy the statute of frauds, the writing evidencing a contract must identify the parties, describe the subject matter, be signed by the party to be charged, and state all of the essential terms of the agreement. The writing must set forth the entire contract with reasonable certainty so that the substance thereof appears from the writing alone. If the contract is incomplete and it is necessary to resort to parol evidence to ascertain what was agreed to, the remedy of specific performance is not available.
Block 865 Lot 300, LLC v. Baione, NY Slip Op 04189 (2d Dep't August 14, 2024)
