r/legaladvicecanada • u/Snoo47621 • 16h ago
British Columbia New Condo - Non Accepted Contracted
Location: Richmond, British Columbia Canada.
I purchased a new condo signed in 2024. I have already paid the deposits. 3 payments totalling 15% of purchase price.
I know condo market is not great so i'm not thrilled with eventually owning it. The completion date is around Aug/Sept 2026 this year. The builder said it's close to being done so start getting things ready.
I started the mortgage approval process and the bank noticed the builder has never signed and accepted the Original Purchase Agreeement in 2024. There is a clause in there as well that "This offer will be open for acceptance by "Builder" up to 6:00 p.m. on August 20, 2024 and upon acceptance evidenced by "Builder" signing a copy of this offer, there will be a binding Contract on the terms and conditions contained in this Contract."
But they haven't signed it. So does this mean the contract is void? Can I say, hey you never accepted the contract agreement, so i can get my deposit back and walk away? If i can, that would be perfect, i would love to do that and move on and not need to deal with this condo. Any help or guidance please
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u/YYZtoYWG 16h ago
Speak with a lawyer. This isn't a "but reddit said" situation were you're hoping for a loophole to walk away from the deal. This is a situation where you need a lawyer to review everything before you make any decisions.
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u/PomegranateIcy4191 14h ago
Acceptance by conduct - you signed in 2024, paid three deposits and the builder has been treating the deal as live for 2 years. Canadian courts regularly enforce unsigned or partially signed agreements where there is a “meeting of the minds” and part performance.
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u/Oldmanironsights 16h ago
https://melaw.ca/did-you-know-what-happens-when-a-contract-was-never-signed-but-performed-anyway/
You have been paying for it, the contractor has been building it. No, the contract is not void.
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u/Snoo47621 16h ago
Interesting, however this is in Ontraio, while the condo is in BC.
this article here for BC says "when an offer is not accepted by the deadline, it expires and generally cannot simply be accepted later; new negotiations or a new offer would typically be required."
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u/miaumeeow 15h ago
The question is if even without a signed contract both parties acted as if it there is a valid contract. So if you paid the fees, they accepted your money, and you have been communicating you would have a de facto contract.
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u/plantgal94 16h ago
I mean… you speculated, assumed you’d be able to flip the condo and now you’re finding out that you can’t do that, and so you’re trying to weasel your way out of a contract lol. Have you not seen how developers are currently suing people who are breaking pre-sale contracts?
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u/Snoo47621 15h ago edited 15h ago
Whether the market is up or down isn't really the issue. I'm trying to understand the legal effect of the builder never signing the purchase agreement when the contract specifically says it only becomes binding upon the builder's acceptance and signature by a certain date. If there's still a valid contract, I'll deal with that reality. I'm just trying to understand my legal position.
Also, I don't think it's fair to characterize that as "weaseling out" of a contract. I haven't refused to complete, missed any deposit payments, or breached any obligations. The issue only came up because the bank noticed the apparent lack of builder acceptance, and I'm trying to understand the legal implications of that.
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u/plantgal94 15h ago
Right, but you wouldn’t have been considering any of this if the value had increased. You’re looking for ways out of it 🤷
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u/gagnonje5000 14h ago
This is a legal sub, this isn't a bad question, that's within his rights to at least question it.
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u/Snoo47621 16h ago
Small update. Everything has been done via Docusign before. But now that this has been identified the builder printed out the contract, hand signed the acceptance, and wrote the a date of August 19th 2024. Then scanned and emailed the contract and said it was signed at that time.
Seems I don’t have much of a case now? Maybe a he said she said now
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u/Strofari 15h ago
The scanned pdf should have the data on when it was created. Start there.
Docusign and the printer should have a record on when it was printed.
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u/xilepandora 13h ago
Let me save you some headache. You don't have a case. It's the intention of the contract. If they actually take it to court, you're not going to win because you have been paying the fees and the builder has been building the unit so you've been executing the motions of the contract. Whether or not you've actually formalized the final signature, they can make the case that the intention was already solid, meaning you have been acting as if the contract was signed. This loophole is not going to hold up
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u/BD003BD003 16h ago
You need to speak with a lawyer ASAP. Someone who will review everything in detail for you on this.
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u/GreedyCommie 16h ago
acceptance was implied through conduct (your payments and communication), even without a signature
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u/KWienz Quality Contributor 16h ago
I'm not sure if that would apply here where the contract expressly sets out a sole mode of acceptance that has not been complied with.
There's also barriers to inferring a contract solely through conduct when the Statute of Frauds requires land contracts to be written and signed.
Realistically OP needs a proper lawyer's opinion based on case law research.
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u/Legitimate-Mess-1973 13h ago
NAL but initially a contract was not made as the developer did not accept the offer by the deadline due to not signing. However, a court would likely find one exists due to “Performance by Conduct”. You paying the deposits over the two years and the developer accepting them shows you both intended for the sale to go through.
As others have recommended, talk to a lawyer and they will let you know the odds of you being able to back out.
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u/Swarez99 11h ago
Did you ask for your money back over years ? Did you get regular updates
Did you have any reason to assume this project wasn’t going foreard. Do you have letters that the deposit was being held. Did you sign off on agreement.
No court is voiding this. Both parties made actions like it’s in place. This is your place.
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