(Ontario)
Question:
Who signs the Confirmation of Acceptance in the event of a counter offer by the Seller that is accepted by the Buyer? (the buyer or the seller)? For example, Buyer submits an offer; Seller counters with a higher price, Buyer accepts.
Answer:
There is a problem with this. Most practitioners, that is, 103,000 in the Province of Ontario will likely get this answer wrong.
It’s been wrong on exams and wrong on Passit as well. Whether it’s been corrected I don’t know.
There are two steps in accepting an Offer:
1) signing, and
2) communicating.
Many people seem unaware or oblivious to the second step.
In your example, the Buyer is accepting the Counter Offer.
Now, what is the process of communicating that fact to the Seller within the irrevocable time?
Buyer’s Agent is present with the Buyer phones to Listing Agent at 7:02 pm, that’s the time. Now, the Buyer’s Agent turns to the Buyer and has the Buyer sign the COA.
Next scenario, Buyer’s Agent heads to the office, makes photocopies etc. and sends an email to the Listing Agent at 8:10 pm. Now, that’s the actual time, and the only person who knows that is the Buyer’s Agent. So the Buyer’s Agent should personally sign the COA. That’s the best evidence that’s available. I have done it. However, some will argue that the Form simply says “Seller/Buyer”.
Final scenario, no one is quite sure when the Seller received the communication that the Buyer had accepted the Offer, but, clearly the Seller will obviously know, so the Seller says it was 8:10 pm, and then signs the COA.
This has been a rather peculiar issue ever since the COA replaced the COE, where the rule was “the last person to sign”
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker