Contract Amendments at an Auction

Before an auction for the sale of a property, a prospective purchaser will often get their solicitor to send an e-mail to the vendor’s solicitor requesting certain amendments to the Contract if that purchaser is the successful bidder.

The vendor’s solicitor will reply, setting out which amendments are agreed to by the vendor. Normally, the vendor’s solicitor will include the agent as a recipient in the return e-mail so that the agent is aware of what amendments to make to the Contract before it is signed.

It is the responsibility of the purchaser to ensure that the amendments that are agreed to are made to the Contract by taking a copy of the e-mail correspondence along to the auction just in case.

However, I had a matter recently where the agent thought he would cut corners and just attached a copy of the e-mail correspondence, containing the agreed amendments, to the Contract. Seems simple enough. But the problem was that the Contract contained a clause, as almost all do, that the purchaser was not relying on any statements outside of the Contract. The amendments were therefore not incorporated into the Contract.

The situation can be remedied by a Deed of Variation allowing the Contract to be amended provided the parties agree on who is to draft the Deed and pay for the legal costs. All this can be avoided by the purchaser making sure before the Contract is signed that the amendments sought are definitely in the Contract!

May 2024