How long is a contract valid and enforceable?

Question

I have a property that I entered into contract with in June of 2017. The seller decided after signing that he did not want to sell. I opted not to enforce the contract at the time but would be potentially interested in doing so now. Is this contract still valid and can I legally do so?

Steve K. · Answer

@Ben Tischler Real Estate contracts need an offer, an agreement, and “consideration” (skin in the game). Without consideration, i.e. an earnest money deposit, the contract was probably never valid. When does the contract say the EM deadline was? I believe you would have been the one in default after not delivering the specified funds to the specified escrow account by the specified EM deadline. Specific performance cases are typically uphill battles to begin with, that usually aren’t worth the effort. This one seems like it would be especially challenging. The reality is there aren’t many judges (if any) who will force the sale of a property in a situation like this, if the seller doesn’t consent to the sale. The best you could hope for would be being awarded monetary damages. But it doesn’t sound like you incurred any material monetary damages in this instance. Considering you never made the EM deposit, I’d assume you didn’t get as far as paying for inspection, appraisal, etc. so there wouldn’t be any “consideration” making the contract valid, or any damages to be awarded even if you won a judgement.

Ben Tischler · Answer

The seller backed out almost immediately after signing the contract so I never even had the opportunity to provide the earnest money.

Ben Tischler · Answer

I've gone through it and have not found any date that would function as a kill-date or expiration. If that does not appear would the contract still be valid?

Theresa Harris · Answer

Read the contract, but honestly after 3 years I doubt it can be enforced.  Did you put any earnest money down and was it returned?

Steve Morris · Answer

What does the contract say?

On every offer, addendum or mutually agreed on change, a decent broker would put a "Kill-date" saying when it expires.

I am curious though, since I get paperwork sent to me that is poorly written (I learned from having done it before).