Q: How does a buyer assign his or her rights in a sales contract to another party?
A: Buyer 1 (assignor) and Buyer 2 (assignee) should enter into a written Assignment of Agreement, which should be drafted by one of their attorneys.
Q: Does Florida law mandate that the real estate closing take place in the county where the real property is located?
A: No. However, many contract for sale/purchase forms include pre-printed provisions indicating where the closing must take place.
Q: Is my seller required by law to accept a full-price offer?
A: No. There is no Florida law that would require the seller to accept any offer.
Q: I have a listing that was only on the market a couple of days when three offers came in from three buyers. The seller accepted one of the offers. Now, the broker who represents the buyer whose offer arrived first claims my seller had an obligation to negotiate with his buyer because his offer was presented to the seller first. Is this true?
A: No. There is no Florida law that would require the seller to respond to any offer. Additionally, there is no Florida law that requires the seller to negotiate with each buyer in the order in which the offers were received.
Q: I represent a buyer who made an offer on a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) property. I asked the seller to provide written confirmation of her decision to reject the buyer’s offer, but she refused. Isn’t the seller required to provide written confirmation of her rejection upon request?
A: No. There is no law that requires either party to communicate in writing his or her decision to reject the other’s offer.
Q: My buyer submitted an offer on a house, and the seller accepted it yesterday. The buyer has changed his mind, and feels that because the house is in a mandatory homeowners’ association that there is a three-day rescission period in which he can cancel without incurring liability. The seller provided the buyer with the “Disclosure Summary” pursuant to Section 720.401, Florida Statutes and the contract also complies with Section 720.401 requirements. Does the buyer have a three-day right to cancel?
A: No. Unless the contract includes a provision giving the buyer three days to cancel, the buyer would not have such a right.
Q: If a seller makes a counteroffer to the buyer’s offer, may the seller later revoke the counteroffer and accept the buyer’s original offer?
A: No. When a counteroffer is made, the buyer’s original offer is terminated and can no longer be accepted.
Q: On one of my listings, a buyer (“Buyer 1”) submitted an offer, and my seller counteroffered. While the seller was awaiting Buyer 1’s response, another buyer (“Buyer 2”) submitted an offer. May the seller withdraw his counteroffer to Buyer 1 before the time for acceptance specified in the counteroffer?
A: Yes. An offer/counteroffer may be withdrawn at any time prior to its having been accepted in accordance with the contract form’s term. This is true even if the time of acceptance contained in the offer/counteroffer has not expired.
Q: After entering into a contract for sale/purchase with the seller, the buyer decided that he’d rather close in March than on the January 30 closing date contained in the contract. We sent an addendum requesting an extension of the closing date to March 1, but the seller rejected our request. Do we still have an enforceable contract?
A: Yes. The fact that the parties failed to reach a meeting of the minds on a proposed modification doesn’t affect the enforceability of the existing contract.
Q: My seller has received offers from several buyers. She now wants to counter all of them in writing. Is this allowed?
A: While a seller is permitted to counter, in writing, more than one offer at the same time, doing so is not advisable. If the seller counters in writing more than one offer and each counter is accepted before the seller is able to communicate an intent to withdraw her counter to one of the buyers, the seller could be bound to two written contracts and thus have potential liability to those buyers.
Q: My buyer is a party to the FAR/BAR (8) Contract for Sale and Purchase. The day before closing, the property was severely damaged by a hurricane, and the cost of restoration is 2 percent of the purchase price. May my buyer get out of the contract?
A: Yes. Standard O “Risk of Loss” provides that if the property is damaged by fire or other casualty before closing and the cost of restoration exceeds 1.5 percent of the purchase price, the buyer "shall either take the property as is, together with the 1.5 percent, or receive a refund of deposit(s), thereby releasing buyer and seller from all further obligations under the contract."
Q: I’m a single agent for a buyer and have written an offer using the FAR Residential Sale and Purchase contract. The seller’s single agent is telling me that his brokerage prefers the FAR/BAR Contract for Sale and Purchase and that they won’t present the offer to his seller. May they do that?
A: It depends. Section 475.278(3)(a), Florida Statutes, provides that a single agent must present “all offers and counteroffers in a timely manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee otherwise in writing.” Therefore, if the seller has previously directed his or her single agent in writing that he or she shouldn’t be presented with any offers written on the FAR contract, then it would not be a violation for the seller’s single agent to refuse to present it to the seller. If the seller hasn’t so previously directed his or her single agent in writing, then the agent must timely present the offer.
Q: The buyer in a transaction is a Navy SEAL. The buyer entered into an contract with a seller to buy a home in Florida. Prior to closing, the buyer received permanent change of station orders from his commanding officer, transferring him to California. May the buyer terminate the contract?
A: Yes. Section 689.27(2)(a), Florida Statutes, provides: “Any service member may terminate a contract to purchase property, prior to closing on such property, by providing the seller or mortgagor of the property with a written notice of termination to be effective immediately, if . . . the service-member is required, pursuant to permanent change of station orders received after entering into a contract for the property and prior to closing, to move 35 miles or more from the location of the property.”
Either a copy of the official military orders or a written verification signed by the service member’s commanding officer must accompany the notice.
Q: A seller who listed her home with me notified me today that she is terminating her listing agreement. She claims that under Florida law she has a 72-hour right of rescission. I’ve been in the business for some time and haven’t heard of any such law. Does the seller have a 72-hour right of rescission?
A: There is no Florida law that affords the seller such a right of rescission. Therefore, unless the listing includes a provision giving the seller such a rescission right, the seller isn’t entitled to cancel without incurring potential liability to the broker.
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© Copyright 2008 Florida Association of Realtors®