Mitchill v. Lath
New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 14, 1928 · Core case
Full citation
Mitchill v. Lath, 160 N.E. 646 (N.Y. 1928).
Quote pages are pages of 247 N.Y. 377, the official report, so quotes and pinpoints cite it; for 160 N.E. 646, find the page in that reporter.
VerifiedQuotes, pinpoints and citation checked word for word against the opinion; facts checked against the opinion before publication. October 20, 2026.This brief explains the opinion as issued. Later treatment and current-law status are not assessed here.
Catherine C. Mitchill
buyer of the farmrespondent
Charles Lath et al.
sellers of the farmappellants
Brief
Facts
In the fall of 1923 the Laths owned a farm they wished to sell. Across the road, on land belonging to Lieutenant-Governor Lunn, they had an ice house which they might remove. Mrs. Mitchill looked over the land with a view to its purchase and found the ice house objectionable. The defendants then orally promised, in consideration of her purchase of the farm, to remove the ice house in the spring of 1924. Relying on that promise, she made a written contract to buy the property for $8,400, for cash and a mortgage, containing various provisions usual in such papers. She later received a deed, entered into possession, and spent considerable sums improving the property for use as a summer residence. The defendants had not fulfilled their promise about the ice house and did not intend to. The written contract of sale was made with her husband, though the deed was given to her; the court treated the contract as if made by her.
Issue
May an oral agreement to remove an ice house from neighboring land be enforced in equity when the parties' written contract for the sale of the farm does not mention it?
Holding
The oral agreement to remove the ice house failed the third condition. Collateral in form, it was so closely related to the subject dealt with in the complete written contract that it could not be proved, so it could not be enforced in equity.
IRAC
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