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Moore v. Berry

40 Tenn. App. 1 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1955)
Moore v. Berry

2 Citing cases

  1. Cunningham v. Lester

    138 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003)   Cited 7 times
    In Cunningham v. Lester, 138 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn.Ct.App. 2003), the court explained as follows: "[T]o be enforceable under the statute of frauds a signed writing must express the essential terms of the agreement with a degree of certainty such that the agreement of the parties can be determined without recourse to parol evidence."

    Where the owner reserves the right to refuse a bid and the auctioneer has stated that the sale is subject to confirmation by the owner, there is no binding sale until the owner accepts the bid. See, e.g., Moore v Berry, 40 Tenn. App. 1, 288 S.W.2d 465 (Tenn.Ct.App. 1955) (perm. app. denied).

  2. Johnson v. Haynes

    532 S.W.2d 561 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1975)   Cited 14 times
    In Johnson, this Court held that an auction sale of land was valid and complete at the fall of the hammer where 1) there was a valid contract between the owner and the auction company; 2) the auctioneer did not announce the owner's right to reserve, owner's right to reserve was not in the printed advertising material, owner was present at the auction and knew her right to reserve had not been announced; and 3) the description of the land in the auctioneer's contract, together with that in the printed posters, was sufficient to satisfy the statute of frauds.

    There is no showing by any credible evidence that the buyer authorized the auctioneer to change the terms of the sale, after the hammer fell. The defendant cannot, under the facts, rely upon the provision of the contract she signed with the auctioneer which gave her the right to confirm or reject bids. Where the terms announced at the auction sale include the right in the owner to reject bids, that condition is binding on all bidders, whether they heard it or not. Moore v. Berry (1955) 40 Tenn. App. 1, 288 S.W.2d 465. We hold, however, where the right to reject bids is not stated in the printed posters, nor is it announced at the sale, that right cannot be asserted after the bid is accepted by the fall of the hammer or other act of acceptance by the auctioneer.