What happens if a Agreement of Sale expires???

[Marc Izquierdo]

Hi all,

I am supposed to close on a Duplex today.  However, the seller has not gotten municipal required inspections completed yet (heater certificaiton and electrical certification).  Both of these are outstanding and are identified in the contract to be ordered at the seller's expense no later than 15 days prior to closing.  For this violation, I have an attorney involved as this makes the seller responsible for all required repairs once the inspections take place (and there will be repairs - no duct work on heater).  Since this is the case, my realtor and I drafted up an addendum to extend closing in order to get this work completed once the seller pays for an inspection (again, required per the contract).  We are currently waiting on the seller to sign and agree to an extension.  It would be ridiculous of them to not sign it, but I was just wondering, what happens if they don't?  What happens at midnight tonight when the contract expires?   We briefly talked about it with my attorney but he suggested that we focus on getting the extension and we'll go from there.  He doesn't think they wouldn't sign it.  However, I'm just curious as to what would happen.  Does anyone have any experience with this and could shed some light?

Thanks in advance

Marc

@Benjamin Cooper

[Roy N.]

@Marc Izquierdo

Generally once a contract expires the agreement is no longer in-force, unless there are enuring terms/clauses in the agreement.  However, if you can demonstrate that Vendor's failure to perform - whether purposeful or not -  ran out the clock on the deal, you have the option of taking legal action to force the vendor to fulfil the agreement.   IMHO, you do not want to go there.

If there is extensive work required to the HVAC and electrical systems, the Vendor may have had a change of mind about the sale and want the deal to expire rather than do the work.

In this sort of situation, I prefer to gather my own quotes to have the work completed and negotiate a reduction in price or a hold-back to cover the work (once the work is complete any balance of funds would be released to the vendor).