On May 27, 2026, Justice Ondrovic of the Westchester County Commercial Division issued a decision in Morataya v. 183 Lincoln Ave. LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op. 50819(U), holding that a contract claim based on an oral contract to purchase real property was barred by the Statute of Frauds, explaining:
A party may move to dismiss one or more causes of action on the basis that they may not be maintained because of statute of frauds. Under the statute of frauds, a contract for the sale of any real property, or an interest therein, is void unless the contract or some note or memorandum thereof, expressing the consideration, is in writing, subscribed by the party to be charged, or by his or her lawful agent thereunto authorized by writing. An agreement which violates the statute of frauds may nonetheless be enforceable where there has been part performance unequivocally referable to the contract by the party seeking to enforce the agreement. Unequivocally referable conduct is conduct which is inconsistent with any other explanation. Here, the plaintiff alleged that she entered into an oral agreement with Shallo whereby the plaintiff would be the owner of the subject property. Since the agreement to transfer ownership interest of the subject property to the plaintiff was required to be in writing, but was not, the eleventh cause of action in the complaint is barred by the statute of frauds. The text messages submitted by the plaintiff do not state all of the essential terms of the alleged oral agreement sufficient to satisfy the statute of frauds. Furthermore, the plaintiff’s alleged part performance was not unequivocably referable to the purported oral agreement she seeks to enforce. It is insufficient that the oral agreement gives significance to the plaintiff’s actions. Rather the actions alone must be unintelligible or at least extraordinary, explainable only with reference to the oral agreement.
Accordingly, that branch of the defendants’ motion which was to dismiss the eleventh cause of action sounding in breach of contract as barred by the statute of frauds is granted.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).