Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
72 hour right of refusal
Hi All:
We are in escrow on the purchase of a house. We are a contingent buyer, with our house sale in escrow as well. The purchase contract on our new house has a 72 hour right of refusal clause. However, the clause does not express any terms, definitions, or when the 72 hours (if enacted) will start, or when if at all the 72 hour clause expires. I would have expected some sort of addendum clarifying the above terms, but apparently I am mistaken. Can we expect the entire escrow, including up to the 11th hour to be under this clause? Do we have a right to expect clear and concise language? Do we have any rights if they call on us to perform? Does anyone know what is standard for California?
We probably should have addressed this all before escrow, but we're here now, so I'm playing catch up.
Thank you in advance
Todd
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: 72 hour right of refusal
You should have a real estate agent. If not, seek assistance from attorney to review your docs.
Re: 72 hour right of refusal
Of course. In most states real estate transactions do not proceed without he assistance of legal counsel. You may want to hire a lawyer to assist.
Re: 72 hour right of refusal
It is probably NOT a right of refusal, but a 72 hour to remove the contingency on the sale of your home. I would need to see the entire contract to be totally accurate, but I will assume that the contract is on a form agreement, like a CAR form.
Generally, when you have your hame listed for sale, but you have not obtained a buyer yet, the seller of the home you want to buy wants a basis to accept an offer from a non-contingent buyer if one comes along. Therefore, if he gets a non-contingent buyer, they must give you 72 hours WRITTEN notice to you to either remove the contingency or they have the right to cancel the agreement. If you are confident that your transaction will go through, you can go ahead and remove the contingency. If you do that, and you are later unable to perform because your house did not close, you could lose your deposit.
Most form contracts do spell all of that out.
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