Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Buyer in property wants language in purchase agreement/escrow instructions that says, "Buyer and seller acknowledge all contingencies must be removed up to 30 days, with active notification" what does that mean?


Asked on 3/27/16, 2:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

The term "active notification" has never been used in a reported California case, so it probably doesn't have a specific legal meaning. In a few other jurisdictions, references are made to "active notification" versus "passive notification" in laws and regulations having to do with public notice regarding sex offenders, and "active notification" means making names of offenders available through direct contact, telephone calls, press releases, neighborhood meetings and the like, whereas "passive notification" means maintaining a list at the police station where the public can go look. In a real estate transaction, I'd say you should ask the other party what the heck they mean; probably they want a phone call rather than publication of the notice in an obscure newspaper or something like that, but who knows? By the way, there's another phrase in the material you quoted that bothers me as making no apparent sense -- "....must be removed up to 30 days...." Does this mean "within 30 days" or "not later than 30 days from today" or ????

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Answered on 3/27/16, 3:53 pm


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