Statute of Frauds - Uniform Commercial Code

Uniform Commercial Code

In the United States, contracts for the sale of goods where the price equals $500 or more (with the exception of professional merchants performing their normal business transactions, or any custom-made items designed for one specific buyer) fall under the statute of frauds under the Uniform Commercial Code (article 2, section 201). The most recent revision of UCC § 2-201 increases the triggering point for the UCC Statute of Frauds to $5,000, but as of 2006 no U.S. state has adopted revised Section 201.

The application of the statute of frauds to dealings between merchants has been modified by provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, which is a statute that has been enacted at least in part by every state (Louisiana has enacted all of the UCC except for Article 2, as it prefers to maintain its civil law tradition governing the sale of goods). Uniform Commercial Code § 1-206 sets out a "catch-all" statute of frauds for personal property not covered by any other specific law, stating that a contract for the sale of such property where the purchase price exceeds $500 is not enforceable unless memorialized by a signed writing. This section, however, is rarely invoked in litigation.

Interestingly, with respect to securities transactions, the Uniform Commercial Code (section 8-113) has abrogated the statute of frauds. The drafters of the most recent revision commented that "with the increasing use of electronic means of communication, the statute of frauds is unsuited to the realities of the securities business."