April 21st, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Fact Pattern: You are the buyer’s agent for a pending sales transaction using C.A.R.’s Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA). Your buyer has 17 days after acceptance to remove all contingencies other than the loan contingency, and 20 days to remove the loan contingency. On the 17th day after acceptance, the seller serves a Notice to Buyer to Perform (NBP) to remove all contingencies.
Multiple Choice Question: What must the buyer do to stop the seller from cancelling? Pick the best answer:
A. Remove all contingencies, including the loan contingency.
B. Remove all contingencies, except the loan contingency.
C. Nothing.
D. Inform the seller’s side that the NBP is defective. (more…)
April 15th, 2025 at 2:17 pm
The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has an updated “California Tenants” guidebook to help landlords and tenants understand their rights and responsibilities. It’s a great resource to give to your clients with landlord-tenant questions! (more…)
April 7th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
Two new landlord-tenant laws have come into effect on April 1, 2025. Here’s a quick summary of the new laws:
Landlord Must Offer Credit Reporting of Positive Rental Payments (AB 2747): Starting April 1, 2025, a residential landlord must generally offer their tenants the opportunity to have their timely-paid rental payments reported to at least one nationwide consumer reporting agency (such as Experian or Equifax). The purpose of this new law is to help tenants build their credit. (more…)
March 31st, 2025 at 1:31 pm
Fact Pattern: You are the buyer’s agent for a pending transaction using C.A.R.’s Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA). The seller agreed to do some pricey repairs that have not been completed. Although you have tried everything to keep this deal together, the buyer just wants to cancel and go buy something else. The buyer has not removed any contingencies. Escrow was scheduled to close last week.
Multiple Choice Question: What is the proper way for the buyer to cancel? Pick the best answer:
A. The buyer must first serve a 2-day Notice to Seller to Perform for the repairs.
B. The buyer must first serve a 3-day Demand to Close Escrow.
C. The buyer can cancel under the buyer’s contingencies.
D. Any of the above. (more…)
March 24th, 2025 at 3:02 pm
Background: In last week’s Legal Tip, we addressed a situation involving a buyer who submitted an offer asking the seller to pay a coop comp of 2.5%, which was more than the 2% provided for in the written buyer-broker agreement. The seller countered the coop comp down to 2%, and the buyer accepted. (more…)
