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Current through October 23, 2012
(1) Except in the cases described in subsection (2) of this section a contract for the sale of personal property is not enforceable by way of action or defense beyond five thousand dollars in amount or value of remedy unless there is some writing which indicates that a contract for sale has been made between the parties at a defined or stated price, reasonably identifies the subject matter, and is signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought or by his authorized agent.
(Dec. 30, 1963, 77 Stat. 636, Pub. L. 88-243, § 1; Apr. 9, 1997, D.C. Law 11-240, § 3(c), 44 DCR 1087.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE COMMENT
Prior Uniform Statutory Provision
Section 4, Uniform Sales Act (which was based on Section 17 of the Statute of 29 Charles II).
Changes
Completely rewritten by this and other sections.
Purposes
To fill the gap left by the Statute of Frauds provisions for goods (Section 2- 201), and security interests (Section 9-203). As to securities, see Section 8-113. The Uniform Sales Act covered the sale of "choses in action"; the principal gap relates to sale of the "general intangibles" defined in Article 9 (Section 9-106) and to transactions excluded from Article 9 by Section 9-104. Typical are the sale of bilateral contracts, royalty rights or the like. The informality normal to such transactions is recognized by lifting the limit for oral transactions to $5,000. In such transactions there is often no standard of practice by which to judge, and values can rise or drop without warning; troubling abuses are avoided when the dollar limit is exceeded by requiring that the subject-matter be reasonably identified in a signed writing which indicates that a contract for sale has been made at a defined or stated price. Amendments approved by the Permanent Editorial Board for Uniform Commercial Code November 4, 1995.
Definitional Cross References
"Action". Section 1-201.
"Agreement". Section 1-201.
"Contract". Section 1-201.
"Contract for sale". Section 2-106.
"Goods". Section 2-105.
"Party". Section 1-201.
"Sale". Section 2-106.
"Signed". Section 1-201.
"Writing". Section 1-201.
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 28:1-206.
1973 Ed., § 28:1-206.
Legislative History of Laws
Law 11-240, the "Uniform Commercial Code Investment Securities Revision Act of 1996," was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 11-576, which was referred to the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on November 7, 1996, and December 3, 1996, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on December 24, 1996, it was assigned Act No. 11-500 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review. D.C. Law 11-240 became effective on April 9, 1997.
