Some of the most challenging WRA Legal Hotline questions do not involve complicated areas of real estate law. Instead, they often stem from something much simpler: a date that does not exist, a deadline that can be counted two different ways, a signature in the wrong place, or a word that means different things to the parties.
Some recent calls to the hotline provide good reminders about why careful drafting matters.
Wednesday, August 10 — except August 10 was Monday
Consider an amendment extending an inspection contingency until “Wednesday, August 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.” There is one problem: August 10, 2026, was a Monday. Wednesday was August 12.
As written, the provision is internally inconsistent because Wednesday, August 10, 2026, does not exist. More importantly for the licensee, the language does not establish whether the parties intended Monday, August 10, or Wednesday, August 12.
If everyone agrees what was intended, the parties may amend the offer to clarify the deadline. If they disagree, however, the licensee should not decide which date controls. Contract interpretation is a legal matter that may require the parties to consult legal counsel.
The drafting lesson is an easy one: When using both a day of the week and a calendar date, check the calendar before sending the document for signatures.
15 days before closing — start counting when?
Another recent question involved an addendum requiring the buyer to receive a report no later than 15 days prior to closing.
The definition of “Deadlines” in the WB offers to purchase explains how to calculate deadlines measured forward from an event such as acceptance. The parties exclude the day the event occurred and count subsequent calendar days. But what happens when the contract requires the parties to count backward from a future event?
The WB definition does not expressly answer that question.
In practice, many licensees apply the same counting method in reverse by excluding the day of closing and counting the required number of calendar days backward. But the forms do not expressly direct that approach. If timing is important, using a specific calendar date may eliminate uncertainty. If the provision already exists, delivering the report early enough to satisfy either calculation may avoid a dispute altogether.
Two sellers, one signature line
Electronic signatures make transactions easier, but technology does not eliminate the need for careful execution.
In another Hotline call, two sellers shared an email address. When the offer was sent electronically, both sellers' names ended up together on one seller signature line. Everyone may know that both sellers personally signed, but someone looking at the document later may wonder whether one seller signed for both.
Best practice is for each seller to separately sign the offer on the designated signature lines. If an execution issue has already occurred and all parties agree about what happened, they may consider an amendment signed by all parties confirming that both sellers personally signed and intended to agree to the offer. The original signatures should not simply be altered to make the document look different from the way it was actually executed.
Say what you mean
Sometimes the problem is not a date or signature, but a word.
If a seller agrees to replace a “septic system,” for example, do the parties mean the tank and drainfield? Does the term include piping from the house? When it’s time to perform the replacement, the parties may discover that they had very different ideas about what their agreement required.
Licensees cannot anticipate every disagreement, but careful drafting can eliminate many of them. When a term could reasonably mean more than one thing, describe what the parties actually intend rather than relying on a broad label.
The lesson from these hotline calls is not complicated: Slow down and read the contract as though you know nothing about the transaction except what appears on the page. Check the calendar. Calculate the deadline. Make sure everyone signs separately. Define exactly what is being repaired, replaced or included.
A few extra minutes while drafting can save the parties and their agents from spending considerably more time later trying to determine what the contract was supposed to say.
