What Happens After the Notice to Buyer to Perform?

Buyers who receive the Notice to Buyer to Perform could be subject to cancellation.

Few home sellers in Sacramento really look forward to executing a Notice to Buyer to Perform, but sometimes that real estate document can become a necessity. ¡Si, yo necesito! That generally come about because the buyer has not taken some sort of contractual action arising from the California Residential Purchase Agreement. Things such as removing the inspection contingencies or appraisal contingency. Just because the contract by default gives the buyer 17 days to remove inspection contingencies does not mean those contingencies automatically expire on Day 17. NO, contingencies can continue until closing if not released.

(I say NO like el Español. With emphasis. The thing I love about my Español lessons is the native speaker uses such passion. He says NO like NOH! Short and sweet. Like he means it. Don’t bother him anymore. Go away. Stop talking. End of story. It’s an attitude, people, that goes into speaking Spanish.)

Back to my story. If the buyer has not released contingencies, and we’ve made several requests to the buyer’s agent, the next step is to issue a Notice to Buyer to Perform. The document gives the buyer another chance to perform prior to cancellation of the contract. The seller is not required to cancel the contract, but most sellers will issue a unilateral cancellation if the buyer fails to take action.

Sometimes buyers stop responding to their agent. But what happens if the buyer’s agent stops responding? That could be a different story. It’s not unusual for an agent not to reply to an email, text and voicemail, especially if that agent is occupied elsewhere, like some are, yet I’m not condoning that kind of behavior. It’s triste. On the other hand, an agent could be in the hospital, out of the country or involved in an emergency. It’s not a good idea to cancel the buyer simply because the listing agent has received zero communication from the buyer’s agent.

In that instance, I will call the buyer myself to inquire. Por supuesto, I first tell the buyer’s agent what I propose to do. If he or she does not respond to me, though, ¡qué pena!  It’s not always the buyer who is failing to perform. It could very well be the buyer’s agent. As a Sacramento listing agent and a Realtor, I am required to be fair to all parties. No sense in penalizing a buyer because the buyer’s agent dropped off the face of the earth. I’m just here to get the job done for my sellers.