I'd attach a copy of the paragraph in the lease where there is a bilateral agreement to accept service by emailWonder if we can CC the Court on that emailed notice?  

Without a deposit you fail to meet sufficient consideration for a bilateral contract.

Just a bilateral agreement that specifies:The giver of the option, or optionorThe receiver of the option, or optioneeThe purchase priceThe term (start date and end date) that the agreement will be in effectThe consideration (typically a dollar amount) paid by the optionee to secure the right to buyPLUS whatever else your attorney thinks is necessary.Make the document recordable by your county clerk, get it signed (and possibly notarized), and then have it recorded on public record.The intent is to ensure that if he tries to sell to anyone else, a title search will find this agreement and trigger a title defect.

Because the contract is a bilateral agreement.

They can have relationships with other business entities through agreements, installment purchases, leases, options, re-purchase agreements, or simply bi-lateral or unilateral contracts.

http://law.scu.edu/site/gary-neustadter/contracts-2012-13/main/cases/SaewitzUnilateral.htmlAn installment sale or note is a bilateral contract, you can NOT assign the obligation of one party to finance and place another party in place of the other party without consent.

A bilateral contract can function similar to an option if you have a break clause.It sounds like more reading is in order.

Obligations under a unilateral contract cannot be assigned without consent, bilateral contracts may be assigned unless restricted, a real estate sale contract is a bilateral contract both parties agree to do something.

Unilateral and Bilateral. 

A lease agreement is a bilateral contract between landlord and tenant if the lease says rent is due on the first and late on the third and we do not enforce those late fees on the fourth and start the eviction process as stated in our agreement then technically we are in breach of contract first and not the tenant and we voided the contract before the tenant did.Again maybe that is just in Texas and does not apply in your area or your business model.