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Is a verbal agreement binding in NYS
Anonymous2 views3 answers
I entered into a verbal agreement to rent a facility for my sons graduation in nys back in late April early May. I then received a call wanting me to look at the facilities floor because it was under construction I did as they asked and again told them I wanted the hall. Tonight June 11th I received a call stating I did not have it because there was no deposit placed. I asked that night about a deposit and was told they didn't know how much it would be but it was not an issue. I spoke with the president of the facility tonight and he told me to talk to the secretary who was the same person who called me tonight and said it was rented I was then told by him tonight to talk to the treasurer who then stated he handles the renting and it was rented 2-3 days after they had me look at the floor. The invitations are out and have been for three weeks. Is there any legal recourse I can take against the facility. They are now trying to say we didnt want to clean up the night of the party and we didnt sign a contract and members have to vote on weather they want to let the person rent the hall or not and they can refuse to rent if they dont like the person.
Yes, oral contracts are as enforceable as written ones, buit they're harder to prove, especially when time has gone by and people's memories fade or are selective, as you see from this situation.
Here you're going to have a hard time enforcing your oral contract, but maye you've got good notes about who you talked to, and since you've relied on the rental by sending out invitations, I suggest you hire a lawyer to write a strongly worded letter to whoever's in charge of facility and demand that they honor the contract you made or you'l sue them for your damages in having to rent a replacement facility on short notice, re-send invitations, etc.
Certain Oral contracts are valid, but you must be able to prove a meeting of the minds, and it doesn't appear here, that the minds ever met. Moreover, contracts for the providing of services over a certain amount must be in writing, and as the threshold is rather low, my guess is you surpassed the threshold. Without doing research, I don't know if it applies to hall rental, but my belief is that it does. Finally, there is nothing you can do to make them rent to you that evening, so even if you can prove the contract, you will have to settle for damages, and other than printing costs, those may not exist.
