Writing Required for Action

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Remedies and Special Proceedings
  4. Statute of Frauds
  5. Writing Required for Action

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  1. No action shall be brought:
    1. To charge any executor or administrator upon any special promise to answer any debt or damages out of such person's own estate;
    2. To charge the defendant upon any special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person;
    3. To charge any person upon any agreement made upon consideration of marriage;
    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 (1) year; or
    5. Upon any agreement or contract which is not to be performed within the space of one (1) year from the making of the agreement or contract;

      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 lawfully authorized by such party. In a contract for the sale of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, the party to be charged is the party against whom enforcement of the contract is sought.

    1. No action shall be brought against a lender or creditor upon any promise or commitment to lend money or to extend credit, or upon any promise or commitment to alter, amend, renew, extend or otherwise modify or supplement any written promise, agreement or commitment to lend money or extend credit, 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 lender or creditor, or some other person lawfully authorized by such lender or creditor.
    2. A promise or commitment described in subdivision (b)(1) need not be signed by the lender or creditor, if such promise or commitment is in the form of a promissory note or other writing that describes the credit or loan and that by its terms:
      1. Is intended by the parties to be signed by the debtor but not by the lender or creditor;
      2. Has actually been signed by the debtor; and
      3. Delivery of which has been accepted by the lender or creditor.
  3. For purposes of this section, a writing, or some memorandum or note thereof, includes a record.

Code 1858, § 1758 (deriv. Acts 1801, ch. 25, § 1); Shan., § 3142; Code 1932, § 7831; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 23-201; Acts 1989, ch. 88, § 1; 1997, ch. 272, § 2; 2006, ch. 810, § 1.

Cross-References. Fraudulent conveyances and devises, title 66, ch. 3.

Leases required to be in writing, §66-7-101.

Sales of goods of $500 or upwards to be in writing, §47-2-201.

Waste under parol agreement to purchase, §29-36-101.

Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), §§ 617, 618, 681.

Tennessee Forms (Robinson, Ramsey and Harwell), No. 1-8.03-19.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 1 Tenn. Juris., Agency, § 3; 5 Tenn. Juris., Boundaries, § 16; 5 Tenn. Juris., Brokers, § 11; 6 Tenn. Juris., Constitutional Law, § 58; 7 Tenn. Juris., Contracts, § 14; 11 Tenn. Juris., Evidence, § 130; 12 Tenn. Juris., Executors and Administrators, § 47; 13 Tenn. Juris., Frauds, Statute of, §§ 2-5; 17 Tenn. Juris., Landlord and Tenant, § 6; 24 Tenn. Juris., Trusts and Trustees, §§ 22, 23.

Law Reviews.

Agency — 1957 Tennessee Survey (F. Hodge O'Neal), 10 Vand. L. Rev. 973.

Champerty as We Know It (R. D. Cox), 13 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 139 (1983).

Choice-of-Law Statutes (Robert A. Leflar), 44 Tenn. L. Rev. 951.

Contracts — 1956 Tennessee Survey (Paul J. Hartman), 9 Vand. L. Rev. 951.

Contracts — 1959 Tennessee Survey (Paul J. Hartman), 12 Vand. L. Rev. 1110.

Contracts — 1963 Tennessee Survey (Paul J. Hartman), 17 Vand. L. Rev. 962.

Contracts — 1964 Tennessee Survey (Paul J. Hartman), 18 Vand. L. Rev. 1115.

Contracts and Sales Law in Tennessee: A Survey and Commentary, II. Contracts (John A. Sebert, Jr.), 45 Tenn. L. Rev. 353.

Contracts — Statute of Frauds — Letterhead as a Signature, 3 Vand. L. Rev. 120.

Contracts — Statute of Frauds — Partial Performance and the Main Purpose Doctrine, 22 Tenn. L. Rev. 963.

Distinctive Fixtures of the Tennessee Law of Trusts (Thomas H. Malone), 16 Tenn. L. Rev. 33.

Equity — 1961 Tennessee Survey (T. A. Smedley), 14 Vand L. Rev. 1281.

Parol Purchasers of Land — Equitable Remedies in Tennessee, 10 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 107.

Promissory Estoppel — Suggestions for Tennessee, 23 Tenn. L. Rev. 423.

Promissory Fraud in Tennessee: A Wrong Without a Remedy, 10 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 308.

Quasi Contract — Benefit Received Under Contract Within Statute of Frauds, 14 Tenn. L. Rev. 124.

Real Property — Oral Leases — Statute of Frauds, 22 Tenn. L. Rev. 576.

Survey of Tennessee Property Law, III. Conveyances (Toxey H. Sewell), 46 Tenn. L. Rev. 171.

Survey of Tennessee Property Law (Beverly A. Rowlett), 48 Tenn. L. Rev. 72.

Tennessee Homeowners' Post Foreclosure Auction Right to Cure Under 11 U.S.C. §§ 1322(b) and (c), 27 U. Mem. L. Rev. 453 (1997).

Tennessee's Theories of Misrepresentation (Joe E. Manuel and Stuart F. James), 22 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 633 (1992).

The E-Sign Act: A Move in the Right Direction and a Boost for E-Commerce (Daniel W. Van Horn), 37 No. 2 Tenn. B.J. 14 (2001).

The Law of Fixtures in Tennessee — A Consideration of the Common Law and Fixture-Related Provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (Jack E. Gervin, Jr.), 42 Tenn. L. Rev. 354.

Attorney General Opinions. Distribution of local option sales tax revenues, OAG 97-038 (4/2/97).

Comparative Legislation. Statute of frauds:

Ala.  Code §8-9-1, et seq.

Ark.  Code §4-59-101 et seq.

Ga. O.C.G.A. §13-5-30 et seq.

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 371.010.

Miss.  Code Ann. §15-3-1 et seq.

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 432.010 et seq.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 22-1 et seq.

Va. Code § 11-1 et seq.


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