Cengage Advantage Books: Fundamentals of Business Law 9th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

Exercise 20

Sufficiency of the Writing. Newmark Co. Real Estate, Inc., contacted 2615 East 17 Street Realty, LLC (the landlord), in New York City to negotiate a lease of real property on behalf of an unnamed client. When the parties appeared close to agreeing to the terms of the lease, Newmark e-mailed the landlord a separate agreement that set out the terms for the payment of Newmark's commission for brokering the deal. The agreement set forth the amount of commission that the parties had discussed. The landlord e-mailed the agreement back, but requested to pay the commission in installments. Newmark consented, revised the agreement, and e-mailed a final copy to the landlord. The landlord did not object further, but neither did it pay the commission. Newmark filed a suit in a New York state court against the landlord to collect. Can an e-mail constitute a writing for purposes of the Statute of Frauds? Does the e-mail in this case qualify? Explain. [ Newmark Co. Real Estate, Inc. v. 2615 East 17 Street Realty , LLC, 80 A.D.3d 476, 914 N.Y.S.2d 162 (1 Dept. 2011)]