Change to Contract Will Affect Sellers

The Texas Association of Realtors announced this morning that changes are coming to our Residential Real Estate Contract on June 1, 2014. The Texas Real Estate Commission approved some changes to the Repairs Paragraph of our One to Four Family Residential Contract, along with the New Home Contract and the Condo Contract.

This means big changes to the way our sellers contract to repair their properties.  Read below for a summary, taken from the TAR Website:

Paragraph 7F: Completion of Repairs
The seller will be required to use someone who is licensed to perform a repair or service—unless the buyer and seller agree otherwise in writing. If the type of repair doesn’t require a license (e.g., roofing), the seller will be required to use someone who is commercially engaged in that repair business—unless the buyer and seller agree otherwise in writing.

This change does not mean that no seller can ever use an unlicensed handyman for electrical repairs. It means that absent a written agreement between the buyer and seller to use that unlicensed handyman for electrical repairs, the seller must use a licensed electrician.

Also, the time to extend the contract for repairs was shortened from 15 days to 5 days.