Contract & Forms Workgroup

The Contract and Forms work group will be meeting to start on Phase 2 of the revision process and needs your feedback.

Exclusive Right to Sell and Purchase and Sale Agreements

First – we’d like to know how the Exclusive Right to Sell and Purchase and Sale agreements that we updated at the end of 2013 are working for you?  We’ve had some input, so we will be reviewing those items first.

  • There is a lot of confusion over the listing date versus the date the seller signs the agreement in the Exclusive Right to Sell. We will review possible solutions for this confusion.  We haven’t had any other feedback – if you have some, please share it with us now so that it can be included in our agenda.
  • On the Purchase and Sale, we’ve been asked to readdress the storage tank clause to include, as it did before, a definitive confirmation that the seller knows of no underground oil tanks.  We’ve also been asked to add something specific about flood insurance.  There was a suggestion that we consider removing the radon and asbestos as separate clauses since they are both defined in the home inspection contingency clause (like mold, pests, wetlands) that do not have written disclosure forms, as lead paint does.  There was also a request to add a confirmation that the buyer received the Home Inspectors Facts for Consumers as required by state law.  Finally, it seems that the slight change to require a Certificate of Occupancy for any dwelling that requires it (such as  a substantially remodeled home) in addition to a new home has caused some hiccups in northern Berkshire.  The attorneys are debating what “requires” a C of O.  We will address that issue. Anything else?

Standard Legal Clauses

We’ve been asked to have our legal counsel draft standard clauses that we would share in the FlexMLS contracts system.  Some idea of sample clauses that might be helpful would be a home sale contingency, attorney review contingency, any others?  Your feedback would be helpful for this too.

Revision Priorities

And finally, the group would like to start on other forms, and would like to make sure we are spending our time on the ones most important to you.  What would you pick for 2-3 forms for us to review and revise this year?  Land P&S?   Buyers Agency Agreement? What is your top priority?

Workgroup Input

Thanks for any feedback you give us;  Workgroup: Charley Sawyer, Lora Kozlowski, Wendy Smith, Franz Forster, Nate Girard, Pam Roberts, Eric Steurnagle and I (Steve Ray) are anxious to get started again.

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