If buyer does not close on the contract red date, what is the seller’s remedy?
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If buyer does not close on the contract red date, what is the seller’s remedy?
I am selling a condo and the closing was supposed to be today as stated in the contract. However, the buyer asked today for a 1 day delay as, their attorney told me, he has a
Asked on May 21, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, you can't cancel on a brief (e.g. one-day) delay, sincer only a "material," or important, breach of contract justifies terminating the contract, and a short delay, especially only a day or so, is not seen as important in the context of a transaction which is typically for several hundred thousand dollars. Send the buyer, through their attorney, a letter reciting the original date and the delay and setting a new deadline to close based on what they said they had need; indicate in the letter that "time is of the essence" and that if the miss the close again, especially since you are giving them the date they asked for, you will consider the contract terminated by their breach. By giving them a second chance, with a written warning a new date based on what they asked for, if they breach again, you may be able to terminate the contract since repeated breaches starts looking like they are not going to close at all, or at least not in a reasonable time.
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