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Part Performance and Equitable Estoppel in Tennessee

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Part Performance and Equitable Estoppel in Tennessee Vanderbilt Law Review Volume 2 Issue 3 Issue 3 - April 1949 Article 7 4-1-1949 Part Performance and Equitable Estoppel in Tennessee Cecil D. Branstetter Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr Recommended Citation Cecil D. Branstetter, Part Performance and Equitable Estoppel in Tennessee, 2 Vanderbilt Law Review 451 (1949) Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol2/iss3/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Vanderbilt Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PART PERFORMANCE AND EQUITABLE, ESTOPPEL IN TENNESSEE The Tennessee chancery courts have repeatedly been petitioned for the specific enforcement of parol contracts for the sale of land, on the basis of part performance.' The Tennessee Supreme Court has consistently refused to give such relief, emphatically laying down the rule that part performance of a parol contract for the sale of land does not serve as a substitute for 2 the writing required by the Statute of Frauds. In the comparatively recent federal case, Interstate Co. v. Bry-Block Mercantile Co., 3 Judge Anderson considered the possibility that some equi- table doctrine such as equitable estoppel might prevent the parol vendor from asserting the Statute of Frauds as a defense to an action for the enforcement of a parol contract for the sale of an interest in land. In this case an unsigned five-year lease was given the lessee, who went into possession, made valuable improvements and expended large sums of money preparing the premises for his use. A conflict as to the terms of th6 lease arose, and the lessee sought to enjoin the lessor from molesting him in his possession. The lessor relied on the Statute of Frauds as a bar to the action. The court pointed out that it was bound by and was following Tennessee law and held that equitable estoppel prevented the lessor from relying on the Statute of Frauds. In this case there was such part performance of the parol contract as to entitle the lessee to specific performance of 'the contract of lease in those jurisdictions recognizing the doctrine. Thus, by issuing the injunction in the Bry-Block case the court reached substantially the same result other courts would have in applying the doctrine of part performance. The purpose of this note is to determine the extent to which Tennessee courts will recognize and enforce parol contracts for the sale of an interest in land when the petitioner relies on such equitable doctrines as equitable estoppel, constructive trust or part performance; to point out the distinctions between equitable estoppel and part performance, as applied to the Statute of Frauds in Tennessee; and to analyze the cases to determine the extent to which the de- 1. The term "part performance" is a misnomer; because when a parol purchaser goes into possession and makes improvements on the land, etc., he is not, in the usual situation, performing any obligation under the parol contract. However, the term is inveterate and will be used for the purposes of this note. 2. "No action shall be brought: .. (4) Upon any contract for the sale of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or the making of any lease thereof for a longer term than one year; . Unless the promise 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, or some other person by him thereunto lawfully author- ized." TENN. CODE ANN. § 7831 (Williams, 1934). 3. 30 F. 2d 172 (W. D. Tenn. 1928). 451 VANDERBILT LAW REVIEW [ VOL. 2 cision of a particular case may depend on whether the petitioner relies on equitable estoppel, parol trust or part performance. DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION In general, the jurisdictions which recognize that part performance takes the case from the literal application of the Statute of Frauds require as a condition that one of the following elements be present: (1) the taking of possession pursuant to the parol contract, with the vendor's permission or' acquiescence, plus the making of valuable improvements on the land, or (2) the taking of such possession, plus the payment of part or all the purchase price.4 A clear and concise definition of equitable estoppel or estoppel in pais cannot be given, as the doctrine is co-extensive with equity and good conscience. 5 Each case in this growing branch of the law must rest on its own peculiar facts. 6 For these reasons, decided cases are of less value than in many other fields of the law. However, a general working set of requisites found in a current legal encyclopedia is: "The essential elements of an equi- table estoppel as related to the party estopped are: (1) conduct which amounts to a false representation or concealment of material fact or, at least, which is calculated to convey the impression that the facts are otherwise than, and 'in- consistent with, those which the party subsequently attempts to assert; (2) in- tention, or at least expectation, that such conduct shall be acted upon by the other party; (3) knowledge, actual or constructive, of the real facts. As re- lated to the party claiming the estoppel, they are: (1) lack of knowledge and of the means of knowledge of the truth of the facts in question; (2) reliance upon the conduct of the party estopped; and (3) action based thereon of such a character as to change his position prejudicially." 7 4. The above statement of requisites is not meant to cover all the possible situations. Note also that it is assumed that the contract is one which the courts would otherwise specifically enforce. See e.g., Townsend v. Vanderwerker, 160 U. S. 171, 16 Sup. Ct. 258, 40 L. Ed. 383 (1895) ; Hunt v. Boyce, 176 Ark. 303, 3 S. V. 2d 342 (1928); Price v. Bell, 91 Ala. 180, 8 So. 565 (1890); Dunckel v. Dunckel, 141 N. Y. 427, 36 N. E. 405 (1894) ; Note, 101 A. L. R. 923 (1936); PoaxEROY, SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OF CON- TRACTS § 134 (1879); 4 POMEROY, EQUITY JURISPRUDENCE § 1400 et seq. (5th ed. 1941); 49 AMi. JuR., Specific Perf. § 1 (1943). 2 WILLISTON, CONTRACTs § 494 (Rev. ed. 1936). 5. Hume v. Bank, 77 Tenn. 728 (1882). 6. Covington v. McMurry, 4 Tenn. C. C. A. 378 (1913); Currens v. Lauderdale, 118 Tenn. 496, 101 S. W. 431 (1907); Galbraith v. Lunsford, 87 Tenn. 89, 9 S. W. 365 (1888); Neal v. Cox, 7 Tenn. 443 (1824). 7. 19 AM. JUR., Estoppel § 42 (1939). A similar definition is found in 3 POM.EROY, EQUITY JURISPRUDENCE § 805 (5th ed. 1941). "Equitable estoppel is the effect of the voluntary conduct of a party whereby he is absolutely precluded . from asserting rights which might perhaps have otherwise existed, either of property, of contract, or of remedy, as against another person, who has in good faith relied upon such conduct, and has been led thereby to change his position for the worse, and who on his part acquires some corresponding right, either of property, of contract, or of remedy." 3 POMEROY, EQUITY JURISPRUDENCE § 804 (5th ed. 1941), quoted with approval in Mem- 1949 NOTES In order to illustrate the application of the doctrines of equitable estoppel and part performance, suppose the following factual situation: A contracts by parol to sell land to B. B goes into possession, builds a dwelling and appur- tenances on the land, encloses the same and resides thereon for several years and then sells the land to C, who further improves the land. A now seeks to eject C, who brings his bill in equity praying for specific performance of the contract between A and B, and an injunction against the action at law.8 Assuming that the contract would be enforced but for the absence of the writing required by the Statute of Frauds, a clear case of part performance is presented. Possession was taken by the parol purchaser in pursuance of the contract and valuable improvements made on the land. The strictest jurisdiction which recognizes the doctrine of part performance would specifically execute the parol contract. 9 If C knew nothing of the relationship between A and B, a clear case of equitable estoppel is presented.'o A's conduct in standing by and seeing H deal with the land as though it were his, exercising the power of ownership to the point of alienation, without making known his claim, was a representation of fact. It could be argued that it was a question of law whether B had the in- defeasible title which he purported to, convey to C." But it is a fact that A had consciously acquiesced in B's dealing with the land as though he were the owner in fee, and in effect represented. to B, C and the world that B had the power and the right to convey the land to C. When A stood by for several years and saw B building and improving the land, it is reasonable to say he expected third persons to rely on his conduct and assume that B was the owner in fee. That A knew the true facts as between himself and B, there is no question. C, who is claiming the benefit of the estoppel, did not know but that B had an indefeasible title, and may be regarded as having relied on the conduct (silence and acquiescence) of A, purchased the land, went into possession and had materially changed his position by expending money, time and labor in improving the premises.
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