Forge v. Smith

We granted leave to determine whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because plaintiffs’ claim of express easement failed to satisfy the requirements of the statute of frauds. We affirm the decision of the trial court because we find that the plaintiffs failed to establish a claim as a matter of law.

i

Diane Smith and Thomas Faber were co-owners of six contiguous lots in the city of Detroit. Faber, Smith, and her husband Leonard Smith entered into a twenty-five-year lease with the plaintiffs for three of the six parcels, described…