Are you preoccupied by the occupancy date?

Clause 11.2 of the Promise to purchase specified the date at which the selling owner agrees to make the premises available to the new buyer. Sometimes the buyer wishes to occupy the premises before the date of signing of the act of sale. The OACIQ strongly advises against this practice since there are major risks involved for the seller in granting such a right to the buyer.

Here are a few examples of these risks:

• The buyer could do some repair work or cause damage to the immovable, which could compromise the signing of the deed of sale.
• In case of disaster, if the buyer’s insurance is inadequate, this could prejudice the seller. In fact, the latter could rely only on the solvency of the buyer to be compensated for damage caused to an immovable of which he still has ownership.
• The selling owner could have trouble reclaiming possession of his immovable if the promising buyer refuses to sign the deed of sale and to leave the premises, creating a major dispute.

Should the seller agree to such occupancy in spite of this, the conditions should be agreed to in writing and signed before a notary. The broker should also advise the selling owner to ask for a substantial deposit from the buyer to prove his good faith.

[social_media]