When Do We Have a Contract?

by | Jun 17, 2016 | Legal Tips

In order to have a ratified contract there must be acceptance and delivery of the contract. The party accepting the final offer or counter-offer must accept and deliver the signed contract back to the party making the final offer or counter-offer before the offer or counter-offer is rescinded by the party that made it.

Paragraph 29B of the Central Carolina Realtors Contract states:

Successful negotiation of  this  offer  will  have  been  completed  when  one  of  the  Party’s  to  the  negotiation  places  the  final, required signatures and/or initials on this offer. Contract acceptance will occur at the date and time when this Party subsequently delivers a copy of this executed document to the other Party. The Party receiving the executed document will be responsible for filling in the final Contract acceptance date and time on the last page of this Contract. 

For example, if John makes an offer to Mary and Mary executes the contract accepting the offer, the contract is not ratified until Mary delivers the contract back to John. Until John receives the contract back from Mary he can rescind his offer, even if Mary has already executed the contract. Once received, John then completes the Contract Acceptance Box and sends a copy back to Mary.

If John makes an offer to Mary and Mary makes a counter-offer which John accepts, the contract is not ratified until John delivers the executed contract back to Mary. Until Mary receives the contract, Mary may rescind her counter-offer. Once received, Mary completes the Contract Acceptance Box and sends a copy back to John.

Once the executed contract is delivered back to the party that made the final offer, the receiving party completes the Contract Acceptance Box. It is important that this box is completed by the receiving party because the Due Diligence Period is based on the date in this box. If the wrong party completes the Contract Acceptance Box, the Buyer’s Due Diligence and other time frames may be improperly shortened.

Historical Fact: In 1890 the Columbia Land and Investment Company purchased farmland outside of the City of Columbia and began to develop a residential neighborhood. In 1894 the Columbia Electric Street Railway provided streetcar access and a public pavilion and park were built. By 1900 the area was generally known as Shandon, for Rev. Peter J. Shand. Rev. Shand was a deacon who ran Trinity Episcopal Church around 1834. The town of Shandon was incorporated in 1904 and later annexed by Columbia in 1913. A business district was developed on Devine Street around 1914. 

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