Kost v. Kraft
North Dakota Supreme Court
795 N.W.2d 712 (2011)
Jim Kost (plaintiff) and Allen Kraft (defendant) had a custom-combining partnership that they formally ended in 2003, but they kept informally sharing work and equipment afterward. In 2008, Kost sued Kraft over dividing proceeds from sold equipment and recovering a planter Kost allegedly converted. Kraft counterclaimed that Kost had orally agreed to lease combining equipment from Kraft at fair rental value, used it, but never paid roughly $150,000 owed, and separately claimed Kost owed him $10,000 for 2005 work under another oral agreement. Kraft had also filed for bankruptcy without disclosing these counterclaims in that proceeding. The trial court granted summary judgment dismissing Kraft's counterclaims, reasoning the statute of frauds barred the oral lease agreement, that the part-performance exception didn't clearly apply given the parties' informal history of trading work and equipment, and that Kraft's bankruptcy nondisclosure barred him from pursuing the claims. Kraft appealed.
Whether some jurisdictions enforce oral agreements to lease goods that were received and accepted despite noncompliance with the statute of frauds.