Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-703

Conveyances and contracts concerning real property required to be in writing

Applied in 64 court decisions — leading case Castellotti v. Free (2016)

Most recently applied in S&G Golden Estates, LLC v. New York Golf Enters., Inc. (May 2023)

2014-09-22

How often courts cite this section

201420202023110
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

§ 5-703. Conveyances and contracts concerning real property required\nto be in writing. 1. An estate or interest in real property, other than\na lease for a term not exceeding one year, or any trust or power, over\nor concerning real property, or in any manner relating thereto, cannot\nbe created, granted, assigned, surrendered or declared, unless by act or\noperation of law, or by a deed or conveyance in writing, subscribed by\nthe person creating, granting, assigning, surrendering or declaring the\nsame, or by his lawful agent, thereunto authorized by writing. But this\nsubdivision does not affect the power of a testator in the disposition\nof his real property by will; nor prevent any trust from arising or\nbeing extinguished by implication or operation of law, nor any\ndeclaration of trust from being proved by a writing subscribed by the\nperson declaring the same.\n 2. A contract for the leasing for a longer period than one year, or\nfor the sale, of any real property, or an interest therein, is void\nunless the contract or some note or memorandum thereof, expressing the\nconsideration, is in writing, subscribed by the party to be charged, or\nby his lawful agent thereunto authorized by writing.\n 3. A contract to devise real property or establish a trust of real\nproperty, or any interest therein or right with reference thereto, is\nvoid unless the contract or some note or memorandum thereof is in\nwriting and subscribed by the party to be charged therewith, or by his\nlawfully authorized agent.\n 4. Nothing contained in this section abridges the powers of courts of\nequity to compel the specific performance of agreements in cases of part\nperformance.\n

Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.