2955 Contract Review

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

If you explain so clearly that nobody can misunderstand, somebody will.

(Meetup is teaching me the truth of that....)
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I spent most of the afternoon reviewing the contract for the new house. I had 19 questions and/or things that needed changing, from the fact that my name was misspelled, to paragraphs that were incomplete, stopping in the middle of a sentence. A few of the things the builder/seller and I had agreed upon were not specified, but there's a paragraph that says that this is complete and anything not specified herein ain't gonna happen, so I want those things added before I'll sign it.

There are bunches of possibly important stuff, like the type of deed is "bargain and sale, covenants against grantors acts", which I don't believe is usual. I'd prefer "bargain and sale, with covenants". And the fact that I have to provide a something-or-other 30 days before closing, or I pay a penalty, and the contract sets a tentative closing date of May 28. I received the contract on April 29 - 29 days before the tentative closing date. Duh?

Daughter recommended the lawyer I'm using, but it looks like he received the contract from the builder's attorney, and sent it to me "If you are in agreement, you may sign the Contract and return" without so much as glancing at it. What am I paying him for? What if I had assumed he'd reviewed and approved it, and I went ahead and signed it? Since when does one have to research and cross-check the legal advice you get from your own lawyer?

Mother is not happy.
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