Open Contract Rule on Vacant Possession
The open contract states that the seller must give vacant possession to the purchaser on completion. However, this is repealed if the contract discloses tenancies or if the purchaser knows before hand that the property that he is about to have has tenants.
Vacant Possession
The seller’s attorney must always try and delete the question of vacant possession while drafting the contract. The Standard conditions deal with vacant possession indirectly. In Standard Conditions, it is stated that if the contract is not completed by 2.p.m., then it will be treated to have taken place on the next working day. The Standard Conditions do not remain effective if the seller has not vacated the property by 2 p.m. Therefore, even though the purchaser has not paid the balance sum of the completion money by 2 p.m., the seller should be in a situation to offer the purchaser vacant possession as soon as the due balance is cleared.
Bringing Forward the 2 p.m. Deadline
Many a times, the parties vary the standard conditions by special conditions, especially in cases of 2 p.m. deadline for completion. If a seller has to purchase something with the proceeds of the sale of the concerned property, then he will definitely need the money that very day. In case both the sale and purchase are set on the same day at 2.p.m. and the proceeds of the sale are obtained only few minutes before 2 p.m. then there may not be enough time to pursue the purchase within the 2 p.m. dead line. This may lead the client to pay compensation to the seller for the delay. However in such a case, it is the duty of the attorney to fix the time for completion in the sale contract at least 30 minutes earlier than the time for completion in the purchase contract. This is done by the introduction of a simple special condition or clause in the sale contract.
Date of Completion
According to the open contract rule, the completion must take place within a reasonable period of time. This is uncertain and unsatisfactory. The Standard Conditions states that completion of work should be done within 20 days from the date of the contract. Standard Condition is usually not used. When the parties enter into a contract, a completion date, which is agreed upon by both the parties to the contract are mentioned on the front page of the contract. When the seller has to purchase something with the proceeds of the sale the attorney of the seller has to ensure that the agreed completion dates for both the transactions are the same. If the attorney for the seller is unable to adjust the timings, then he should advice the same in writing to the seller, stating the implications – financial or otherwise might be. When a sale is completed, the seller might have to move to a temporary accommodation and might also have to incur certain expenses.
