GCAAR Documents Modified to be Consistent with NEW Regional Contract of Sale (RCS)

Summary of Changes to Documents
Effective Date January 1, 2012

  1. FINANCING EXPIRATION - GCAAR Form #100

    Form 100 has been revised by eliminating the "Buyer's Removal of Financing Contingency Notice" (former paragraph 2) as it is no longer necessary under the new financing language in the Regional and the MC Jurisdictional Addendum in effect 1/1/12. Form 100 now is solely a Notice from Seller to Buyer that the Deadline for Lender's Commitment has passed. Buyer then has 3 days to deliver to Seller either the Commitment or evidence of sufficient funds to close without financing. Failure to do so will render the Contract void.

  2. INCLUSIONS/EXCLUSIONS - GCAAR Form #911
    1. Introductory Paragraph-This provision has been modified to match the changes to this same paragraph in the Regional Contract.
    2. As-Is Paragraph- This section, which was also deleted from the main body of the Regional Contract, has been deleted from this form, as well, since the entire Property now conveys in As-Is Condition, unless otherwise specified.
    3. General-The reference to the paragraph in the Regional Contract addressing what conveys was changed to match its new name, Personal Property and Fixtures.
  3. ADDENDUM OF CLAUSES - GCAAR Form #1332

    The Addendum of Clauses has been modified to provide for the adjustment to those provisions impacted by the changes in the new RCS. The provisions modified are:

    1. Paragraph 1 - HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY - this provision HAS NOT been modified as the language contained therein is consistent with and works for the new PROPERTY MAINTENANCE AND CONDITION (Paragraph 7) contained in the RCS. Previous revisions removed language referring to the Seller's obligations under the old Property Condition paragraph - so no change was needed.
    2. Paragraph 2 - GENERAL INSPECTION CONTINGENCY - language has been added to demonstrate the limited nature of this Inspection Contingency and the expectation that it be used for informational purposes alone. The title has been modified to add the parenthetical (NO RIGHT TO NEGOTIATE) and additional language has been added reiterating that this provision is not to be used to negotiate repairs and or credits by Seller.
    3. Paragraph 3 - "AS-IS" PROPERTY CONDITION - has been revised to reflect the changes in the "Property Maintenance and Condition" Paragraph of the Contract. The revised language will allow the parties to expand the terms of the "As-Is" clause that is now in the property condition paragraph of the Regional Contract and the Jurisdictional Addendum to make it easy for an agent, on behalf of their client, to eliminate other obligations regarding property condition that are not eliminated by the new as is clause contained in the Contract. This will make it more like the old "As-Is" clause
    4. Paragraph 6 - POST SETTLEMENT AIR CONDITIONING AND/OR SWIMMING POOL INSPECTION CONTINGENCY - This contingency anticipates that these systems CANNOT be tested due to weather conditions. Therefore, the contingency establishes a condition the systems are to be conveyed in - "normal working order" = "Required Condition". References to the Property Condition paragraph have been removed.
    5. Paragraph 9 - APPRAISAL CONTINGENCY - language has been added as a parenthetical to the Title of the form stipulating that it is to be used only for limited, specific types of transactions. In addition, the consequence of Buyer failing to Deliver the Buyer's Appraisal Notice to Seller has changed dramatically. To accomplish this change, the 3rd Paragraph has been removed completely AND the following sentence has been added to the end of Paragraph 2; "This Contingency will terminate at the Deadline, unless by the Deadline Buyer Delivers to Seller Buyer's Appraisal Notice" Previously, if the Buyer had failed to Deliver the Appraisal Notice, the contingency would continue until the Seller delivered notice that the contingency deadline had passed, now, the Contingency will TERMINATE if the Buyer fails to Deliver prior to the time frame called for in the Contingency.
    6. Paragraph 12 - SELLER CREDIT(S) TO BUYER - Has been added to provide proper language for a Seller Credit to Buyer when a Financing Contingency has not been incorporated in the Contract. This clause WOULD NOT be needed in a transaction where a Conventional, FHA or VA Financing Contingency has been incorporated as each contains language providing for a Seller Closing Cost Credit.
  4. WASHINGTON, DC JURISDICTIONAL ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1313
    1. Paragraph 8 - "Additional Default Provisions" has been removed as this language is now included in the CONVENTIONAL FINANCING ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1352.
    2. All paragraphs 9 thru 12 have been re-numbered to reflect the removal of Paragraph 8.
  5. MONTGOMERY COUNTY JURISDICTIONAL ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1312
    1. Removed "Time is of the Essence" wording at top of form as it is included in the Regional Sales Contract.
    2. Paragraph 6 - Added second to last sentence regarding the requirement to withhold for those sellers subject to FIRPTA.
    3. Added to Definitions paragraph 11, E. As Is.
    4. Paragraph 13 - has been modified to correspond to Regional Financing Language.
    5. Paragraph 14 - added to have MAR correspond with Regional Property Condition.
    6. Paragraph 15 - added to include electronic signature language for MAR.
    7. Paragraph 16 - renumbered from Par. 14.
    8. Old Paragraph 17- "Additional Default Provisions" has been removed as this language is now included in the CONVENTIONAL FINANCING ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1352.
    9. Paragraphs 12-16 are applicable to the MAR and Paragraphs 17-28 apply to the Regional.
  6. HOME INSPECTION CONDITION NOTICE AND/OR PROPERTY CONDITION PARAGRAPH NOTICE - GCAAR Form - #1344
    1. The form has been re-titled to reflect the change in the Property Condition paragraph of the RSC. The Title now reads; "HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY NOTICE AND/OR ADDENDUM.
    2. As there is no longer an obligation of the Seller to correct "Property Condition" defects per the new RSC Paragraph 7 language, the entire first Section of the form has been removed - "1. PROPERTY CONDITION PARAGRAPH NOTICE:"
    3. The form has been restructured to allow the Buyer to give Notice to the Seller of
      (A.) - those items the Buyer requires the Seller to repair or replace and/or a dollar amount credit in exchange for the Buyer's removal of the Inspection Contingency, OR
      (B.) - that the Buyer declares the Contract Null and Void.
  7. APPRAISAL NOTICE AND/OR ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1333

    The form was modified to reflect the changes to the appraisal contingency (see Addendum of Clauses Par.9). The primary change is that the appraisal contingency has no longer has any curative language; the Deadline is end of the opportunity for a buyer to request a sales price reduction. The current appraisal contingency provides that the contingency will expire if within 3 days of Notice from the seller the buyer does not provide a low appraisal and notice. In the revised contingency, the Deadline is firm and no initial action is required by the seller.

    As such, the new Appraisal Notice now has 2 sections:

    1. Buyer elects to remove the contingency; or
    2. Buyer requests a reduction due to a low appraisal.
  8. CONVENTIONAL FINANCING ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form - #1352

    Since the Conventional Financing Contingency was removed from the Regional Contract, it was necessary to create a new standalone Conventional Financing Addendum. Since we already have standalone FHA and VA Financing Contingencies, we had a familiar base to start with. The key distinction between the FHA/VA Financing Contingency and the new Conventional Financing Contingency is that the FHA/VA Contingency has a built-in appraisal "contingency" as required by Federal Law, while the Conventional Financing Contingency does not. Otherwise, all three financing contingencies are very similar.

    The following are the key characteristics of and modifications to the Conventional Financing Contingency:

    1. It is now a separate standalone addendum, as there is now no longer a Financing Contingency contained in the Regional Contract.
    2. Similar to FHA and VA, the contract will now be contingent upon the Buyer delivering to the Seller, a "firm written commitment for financing" ("Loan Option"), or upon the Buyer delivering to the Seller evidence that the Buyer has sufficient funds to complete settlement without obtaining financing ("All Cash Option").
    3. A Firm Written Commitment can only issued when the lender is finished with the loan. For example, all underwriting, appraisal review, credit, verifications, etc. must be completed, before the lender would be able to issue a Firm Written Commitment.
    4. There will still be a separate Appraisal Contingency contained in the Addendum of Clauses for use with large down payment and cash transactions.
    5. A provision was included in this contingency to address the situation where the Appraisal Contingency was improperly used with a loan that WOULD otherwise have been contingent upon a satisfactory appraisal. This provision states that the Buyer will not be in default if the Appraisal Contingency is removed and the loan is rejected later due to a low appraisal.
    6. With the revisions to this contingency, while Form 100 still exists, it is no longer a required form. It has been revised and is recommended for use by the Seller when giving Notice to the Buyer of the Expiration of the Financing Contingency.
    7. Since paragraph 13 of the new Regional Contract addresses giving authorization to the agent to provide Buyer's financial and credit information to the Seller or any Lender, paragraph 6 of this Addendum, which covered the same subject, was deleted. The former paragraph 6 also addressed the assumption of a Seller's existing mortgage which happens so rarely that it was determined not necessary to include in this Addendum.
    8. The Lender Requirements paragraph was relocated from the main body of the Regional Contract to this Addendum and retitled to "Lender Required Repairs". It was also reformatted for greater ease of readability. Finally, it was modified to make it compatible with the provisions established in the new Property Maintenance and Condition paragraph and the Financing Application paragraph of the new Regional Contract.
  9. FHA FINANCING ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form - #1330
    1. Changed all the numbers to letters so it conformed with the Conventional Financing Addendum.
    2. Copied Paragraph A in full from the Conventional Financing Addendum with the following changes:
      1. Replaced the references to up front PMI with the FHA language for the FHA MIP
      2. Deleted Paragraph 5 regarding the Appraisal, since the FHA Addendum includes Appraisal Language
      3. Renumbered Paragraph 6 to Paragraph 5.
    3. Kept the Appraisal Provisions paragraph in full and made it B.
    4. Since paragraph 13 of the new Regional Contract addresses giving authorization to the agent to provide Buyer's financial and credit information to the Seller or any Lender, paragraph 5 of this Addendum, which covered the same subject, was deleted. The former paragraph 5 also addressed the assumption of a seller's existing mortgage which happens so rarely that it was determined not necessary to include in this Addendum.
    5. Copied the Seller Subsidy/Loan Charges paragraph in full from the Conventional Financing Addendum in place of what was there, but added the language from the existing FHA Addendum regarding lender charges charged to Seller.
    6. Replaced the previous Lender Requirements paragraph with the newly revised and renamed Lender Required Repairs paragraph also found in the Conventional Financing Addendum.
  10. VA FINANCING ADDENDUM - GCAAR Form #1338
    1. Changed all the numbers to letters so it conformed with the Conventional Financing Addendum.
    2. Copied Paragraph A in full from the Conventional Financing Addendum with the following changes:
      1. Replaced the references to up front PMI with the VA language for the VA Funding Fee.
      2. Deleted Paragraph 5 regarding the Appraisal, since the VA Addendum includes Appraisal Language.
      3. Renumbered Paragraph 6 to Paragraph 5.
    3. Kept the Appraisal Provisions paragraph in full and made it B.
    4. Since paragraph 13 of the new Regional Contract addresses giving authorization to the agent to provide Buyer's financial and credit information to the Seller or any Lender, paragraph 5 of this Addendum, which covered the same subject, was deleted. The former paragraph 5 also addressed the assumption of a Seller's existing mortgage which happens so rarely that it was determined not necessary to include in this Addendum.
    5. Copied the Seller Subsidy/Loan Charges paragraph in full from the Conventional Financing Addendum in place of what was there, but added the language from the existing VA Addendum regarding lender charges charged to Seller.
    6. Replaced the previous Lender Requirements paragraph with the newly revised and renamed Lender Required Repairs paragraph also found in the Conventional Financing Addendum.
  11. CONDOMINIUM RESALE ADDENDUM FOR MARYLAND - GCAAR Form #1328

    Paragraph 1, CONDITION OF PROPERTY AND POSSESSION/PROPERTY MAINTENANCE AND CONDITION, title was changed and paragraph was reworded to reflect the changes in the Regional Contract regarding property conditions.

  12. CONDOMINIUM RESALE ADDENDUM FOR WASHINGTON, DC - GCAAR Form #1354

    Paragraph 1, EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE AND CONDITION, title was changed and paragraph was reworded to reflect the changes in the Regional Contract regarding property conditions.

  13. COOPERATIVE RESALE ADDENDUM FOR MARYLAND - GCAAR Form #1356

    Paragraph 1, EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE AND CONDITION, title was changed and paragraph was reworded to reflect the changes in the Regional Contract regarding property conditions.