Agents are supposed to maintain a good working knowledge of the purchase contract, and every year we go to the C.A.R. review to keep up with the changes. But I don’t remember discussing this paragraph that was added in 2021, and expanded in the most recent version of the contract.

We had an interesting test case on it recently.

The buyer wanted to cancel their purchase, but they knew someone who was also interested in buying the property too. They claimed that Paragraph 23 gives them permission to plug in the new buyer, and the seller can’t ‘unreasonably’ withhold consent.

The way that paragrah reads, they might have a case. If they were able to provide a pre-qual letter and properly notify the seller and listing agent, it looks like they would have complied with the criteria expressed in this paragraph.

Do I want to get into a battle over it?

Luckily, they did not produce the documentation, and instead bowed out gracefully. But for a minute, I thought we might be stuck with the assignee, who had said that he flipped homes in the past. I cringed at the thought of the usual discount that flippers demand after their home inspection.

From now on, we’re going to counter out #23 before we enter into an agreement.

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