Question
I have entered into a reservation contract to purchase a property. The contract that the brokerage office prepared for me is not acceptable to me - there are provisions in the drafting of the contract that I do not want to accept. They refused to accept my demands and insisted that I must sign the sales contract or my deposit for the reservation would be forfeited. Do they have the right to do this?
The answer
In order to be able to take a clear position, we would need to see the relevant reservation contract. As a rule, the booking contracts drawn up by real estate agents do not have the character of a prospective purchase contract, as they do not contain a comprehensive agreement. It is necessary to assess the nature of the reservation deposit, whether it fulfills the function of an advance on the purchase price or whether it is also a contractual penalty. We therefore recommend that you submit the reservation contract to a good lawyer for examination. We have dealt with similar cases on a number of occasions and in the case you describe the reservation deposit has usually been returned to the prospective buyer.
Answer according to the current legal status valid on 21/07/2022.