REPAIRS PROMISED IN TEXT BUT NOT IN THE CONTRACT 🔨✍️
💥 Scenario
The listing agent texts:
“Seller will replace the HVAC and repair the back deck if buyer offers full price.”
Buyer’s agent submits a full-price offer but does NOT include HVAC replacement or any repair language on the SCR 310.
Later, the seller insists no repairs were agreed to.
🧭 Broker Guidance
If it’s not written into the contract, it doesn’t exist.
Texts, emails, and verbal promises have no contractual weight unless they are placed directly in SCR 310 or a signed addendum.
For major items like HVAC replacement, placing them on the SCR 525 creates problems because once a 525 is ratified, adding new items later is extremely difficult and often unacceptable to the other party.
Major negotiated predetermined repairs must go on the SCR 310 — not the 525.
✅ Action Steps for Agent
Add the HVAC replacement directly into Section 26 (“Attachments, Other contingencies”) of the SCR 310.
If there are pre-negotiated deck repairs, also list them in Section 20.
Use SCR 525 only for items discovered after inspections — not for items negotiated before the contract is signed.
Ensure buyers initial the SCR 310 wording with the repair obligations clearly spelled out.
💡 Broker Tip
📝 If the seller promises something before ratification, it belongs on the contract — not on a later addendum.
