3. In an action by the family friend against the father to recover $1,000 plus interest, which of the following statements would summarize the father's best defense?

C is correct. Generally, a promise to guarantee a debt to a third person falls under the Statute of Frauds and therefore must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged in order to be enforceable. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 110 (1981). However, the promise will not fall under the Statute where the principal purpose of making the guarantee was to benefit the promisor himself and not the third-party debtor. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 116 (1981). Here, if the father's promise was made for the primary purpose of benefiting his daughter and not himself, then his promise to guarantee his daughter's debt falls within the Statute of Frauds and a writing is required for his promise to be enforceable. Thus, the father's best defense is that the promise was not to benefit himself, which means the contract did not satisfy the Statute of Frauds because the father never signed a writing acknowledging he would pay the family friend $1000 if the daughter defaulted.

A is incorrect. This answer choice incorrectly applies the facts because consideration was given to the daughter. Valid consideration requires the contract to be a bargained-for exchange in which there is a legal detriment to the promisee or a benefit to the promisor. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 71 (1981). Although the father is not directly benefiting from the $1000 loan, he did request the friend to give the daughter $1000, which would be considered a legal detriment to the promisee. Thus, this is not the father's best defense.

B is incorrect. Contracts that cannot be performed within one year require a signed writing by the party to be charged to be enforceable. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 110 (1981). Here, the daughter explicitly stated she would pay the family friend back within one year. Thus, this is not the father's best defense because the contract would have been performed within a year and the Statute of Frauds would not apply.

D is incorrect. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 33 (1981) requires the terms of a contract to be reasonably certain; a contract is not enforceable if one or more of the essential terms are left open. Here, the daughter's promise is sufficiently definite to be enforced notwithstanding the failure to specify an interest rate because the loan amount and payment due date are both mentions; the interest rate term may be implied and determined based on the market.