What is the statute of frauds?

The statute of frauds requires certain agreements, service contracts, real estate sales, to be in writing to be legally enforceable. For an HOA, this often applies to vendor contracts, management agreements, or leases involving common areas, though state law controls exactly which agreements the statute reaches.

Why does the statute of frauds matter?

A verbal agreement with a vendor might feel binding in the moment, but if it falls within the statute of frauds, a board could find itself with no enforceable claim if that vendor doesn’t deliver. Not every agreement falls inside the statute, though, and a short-term deal, or one that’s already partly carried out, can sometimes hold up under other legal doctrines even without a signature. None of that is a reason to skip a written contract, it just means an unsigned one isn’t automatically worthless.

When You’ll Run Into This

This becomes relevant the moment a dispute arises over an agreement that was never put in writing.