FACTS:                 

After entering into a Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract (the “Contract) with a seller, the buyer hired a home inspector to perform a home inspection. After reviewing the inspection, the buyer had a list of requested repairs, all of which would not fit on page 1 of the Buyer’s Inspection Notice and Seller’s Response (“BINSR”). The buyer’s agent continued the list on an addendum, incorporating the addendum into the BINSR. The seller now refuses to sign the addendum because he does not agree to make all of the requested repairs.

ISSUE:                  

Does the seller have to sign the addendum?

ANSWER:                           

Probably not.

DISCUSSION:    

An addendum is a mutual agreement to amend the Contract. Here, the seller does not agree to all of the repairs and, by signing the addendum, it may represent that the seller agrees to all of the repairs on the addendum.

Practice tip: To avoid confusion, the buyer’s agent can add a blank page titled BINSR ATTACHMENT by clicking the “Add Page” button found in TransactionDesk forms or zipForms.  Alternatively, the buyer’s agent should have used a blank word document incorporated into the BINSR to continue the list of requested repairs to submit to the seller.