\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By Joel Maxson<\/div><\/div>\n

It\u2019s important for buyers and sellers to fully read a contract and ask about any words that confuse them. In the Far\/Bar AS IS contract, \u201cdeem\u201d appears 10 times and \u201cwaive\u201d 12 times, but some Florida Realtors Legal Hotline callers seemed confused about their definitions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 One reason people struggle to understand contracts is that they contain words that aren\u2019t a part of everyday conversation. Before signing a significant contract, it\u2019s important for both parties to slow down and read every word. If they find a word they don\u2019t understand, they should look up what it means or, even better, reach out to their own lawyer with any questions. If they just skip over words, that ignorance could cost them.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at a couple of words that seem to trip up callers to our Florida Realtors Legal Hotline: \u201cdeem,\u201d and \u201cwaive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deem<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Here\u2019s how a legal dictionary defines the word deem: \u201cto treat something as if it were really something else.\u201d In other words, it creates a legal fiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeem\u201d appears 10 times in the \u201cAS IS\u201d Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase approved by the Florida Realtors and Florida Bar, which is the contract we\u2019ll use throughout this article. Let\u2019s look at two examples to see how it works.<\/p>\n
The first one is easy to understand. Section 2(a) allows parties to check one of two boxes relating to delivery of escrow. The first box provides that it accompanies the offer, while the second creates a deadline (3 days, if left blank). It then says \u201cIF NEITHER BOX IS CHECKED, THEN OPTION (ii) SHALL BE DEEMED SELECTED.\u201d That means that, although both parties signed a contract with no box selected, for legal purposes we\u2019ll pretend the second box was checked.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a more subtle use: \u201cLoan Approval which requires a condition related to the sale by Buyer of other property shall not be deemed Loan Approval for purposes of this subparagraph.\u201d So, let\u2019s say a buyer receives a letter from a lender titled \u201cLoan Approval\u201d that shows the buyer is approved for the exact type of financing described in the contract. However, it also mentions that the buyer must close a pending sale of other property before the lender will fund. In that case, the loan approval they received \u201cshall not be deemed a Loan Approval.\u201d Therefore, the buyer should act like they never received the loan approval.<\/p>\n
In other words, the contract pretends the lender denied the application or remained silent. The buyer will have the option to terminate the contract before the loan approval period or, if they\u2019re confident everything will work out, go forward with their deposit likely at risk.<\/p>\n
Waive<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The word \u201cwaive\u201d generally means to give away a legal right. You\u2019ve likely seen it in the context of a waiver document. It\u2019s the kind of thing you would sign before going white water rafting, riding go-karts, or even using computer software. The company is basically asking you to give away your right to sue them in the future if you get harmed in ways described in the waiver. Some variation of \u201cwaive\u201d appears in the contract 12 times.<\/p>\n
Section 18, Standard X, titled Buyer Waiver of Claims, provides that \u201cTo the extent permitted by law, Buyer waives any claims against Seller and against any real estate licensee involved in the negotiation of this Contract for any damage or defects pertaining to the physical condition of the Property that may exist at Closing of this Contract and be subsequently discovered by the Buyer \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
While this is a broad waiver that could cut off a number of otherwise valid legal claims a buyer would otherwise have, that first part \u201cTo the extent permitted by law\u201d does leave the door open for claims like a seller\u2019s fraud or failure to disclose latent defects.<\/p>\n
Joel Maxson is Associate General Counsel for Florida Realtors<\/em>
\nNote: Advice deemed accurate on date of publication<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2021 Florida Realtors\u00ae<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Go to Source<\/a>
\nAuthor: izaakh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Joel Maxson It\u2019s important for buyers and sellers to fully read a contract and ask about any words that confuse them. In the Far\/Bar AS IS contract, \u201cdeem\u201d appears 10 times and \u201cwaive\u201d 12 times, but some Florida Realtors Legal Hotline callers seemed confused about their definitions. ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 One reason people struggle to understand contracts is that they contain words that aren\u2019t a part of everyday conversation. Before signing a significant contract, it\u2019s important for both parties to slow down and read every word. If they find a word they don\u2019t understand, they should look up what it means or, even better, reach out to their own lawyer with any questions. If they just skip over words, that ignorance could cost them. Let\u2019s look at a couple of words that seem to trip up callers to our Florida Realtors Legal Hotline: \u201cdeem,\u201d and \u201cwaive.\u201d Deem Here\u2019s how a legal dictionary defines the word deem: \u201cto treat something as if it were really something else.\u201d In other words, it creates a legal fiction. \u201cDeem\u201d appears 10 times in the \u201cAS IS\u201d Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase approved by the Florida Realtors and Florida Bar, which is the contract we\u2019ll use throughout this article. Let\u2019s look at two examples to see how it works. The first one is easy to understand. Section 2(a) allows parties to check one of two boxes relating to delivery of escrow. The first box provides that it accompanies the offer, while the second creates a deadline (3 days, if left blank). It then says \u201cIF NEITHER BOX IS CHECKED, THEN OPTION (ii) SHALL BE DEEMED SELECTED.\u201d That means that, although both parties signed a contract with no box selected, for legal purposes we\u2019ll pretend the second box was checked. Here\u2019s a more subtle use: \u201cLoan Approval which requires a condition related to the sale by Buyer of other property shall not be deemed Loan Approval for purposes of this subparagraph.\u201d So, let\u2019s say a buyer receives a letter from a lender titled \u201cLoan Approval\u201d that shows the buyer is approved for the exact type of financing described in the contract. However, it also mentions that the buyer must close a pending sale of other property before the lender will fund. In that case, the loan approval they received \u201cshall not be deemed a Loan Approval.\u201d Therefore, the buyer should act like they never received the loan approval. In other words, the contract pretends the lender denied the application or remained silent. The buyer will have the option to terminate the contract before the loan approval period or, if they\u2019re confident everything will work out, go forward with their deposit likely at risk. Waive The word \u201cwaive\u201d generally means to give away a legal right. You\u2019ve likely seen it in the context of a waiver document. It\u2019s the kind of thing you would sign before going white water rafting, riding go-karts, or even using computer software. The company is basically asking you to give away your right to sue them in the future if you get harmed in ways described in the waiver. Some variation of \u201cwaive\u201d appears in the contract 12 times. Section 18, Standard X, titled Buyer Waiver of Claims, provides that \u201cTo the extent permitted by law, Buyer waives any claims against Seller and against any real estate licensee involved in the negotiation of this Contract for any damage or defects pertaining to the physical condition of the Property that may exist at Closing of this Contract and be subsequently discovered by the Buyer \u2026\u201d While this is a broad waiver that could cut off a number of otherwise valid legal claims a buyer would otherwise have, that first part \u201cTo the extent permitted by law\u201d does leave the door open for claims like a seller\u2019s fraud or failure to disclose latent defects. Joel Maxson is Associate General Counsel for Florida Realtors Note: Advice deemed accurate on date of publication \u00a9 2021 Florida Realtors\u00ae Go to Source Author: izaakh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwfl4sale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}