The addendum allows the buyer to terminate under certain circumstances if he cannot obtain credit approval or if the property does not satisfy the lender’s underwriting requirements.
How does the Third Party Financing Addendum (TXR 1901, TREC 40-9) work?
For a contract where the first box in Paragraph 2A of the Third Party Financing Addendum is checked, what must a buyer do to terminate the contract if she is unable to obtain credit approval?
If the buyer cannot obtain credit approval and she wants to exercise her right to terminate the contract under the Third Party Financing Addendum, she must give written notice to the seller within the time period agreed to in the addendum. She can use the Notice of Buyer’s Termination of Contract (TXR 1902) for this purpose. If the buyer gives notice within the time required, the contract terminates, and the earnest money is refunded to the buyer. If the buyer doesn’t provide the notice within the time required, the contract will no longer be subject to the buyer obtaining credit approval.
My client received an offer on her home where the contract is not subject to the buyer receiving buyer approval for financing. However, the buyer attached a completed Third Party Financing Addendum to the contract. What should we do with this offer?
There is nothing wrong with the buyer submitting the addendum in this way. Just because the buyer is not making the contract contingent on buyer approval of financing (Paragraph 2A) does not mean the buyer cannot terminate due to the absence of property approval (Paragraph 2B).
Is it appropriate to fill in one of the sections of the Third Party Financing Addendum with “market” in the space for the maximum interest rate permitted for the loan contingency or to leave the percentage amount blank for the maximum loan fees permitted for the loan contingency?
No. The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Broker-Lawyer Committee intended that a percentage would be inserted in these two blanks. That’s why the form was promulgated with percentage signs after the blanks, and the parties risk ambiguity or unenforceability of contracts by not inserting appropriate percentage figures in these blanks. The Third Party Financing Addendum is designed to limit the maximum amount of interest and loan fees that a buyer would be obligated to pay as part of his loan contingency. Inserting the word “market” instead of a stated interest rate or leaving a blank space for the maximum loan fees would defeat the purpose of the loan contingency. The market interest rate might be several percentage points higher than the buyer intended, assuming it was possible to determine what the market rate was at a particular time in the contracting process. Similarly, a buyer might be required to pay a much greater amount of loan fees than he intended if that figure was left blank and a court imposed a "reasonable" or "market" test to determine the amount of permitted loan fees.
What must a buyer do to terminate the contract if the property does not satisfy the buyer’s lender’s underwriting requirements for the loan?
Pursuant to Paragraph 2B of the Third Party Financing Addendum, to terminate the contract based on failure to obtain property approval the buyer must, not later than three days before the closing date, give the seller a written notice of termination and a copy of a written statement from the lender setting forth the reason for the lender’s determination. If a buyer terminates the contract in accordance with Paragraph 2B, the earnest money will be refunded to the buyer. If the buyer does not terminate the contract in accordance with Paragraph 2B, property approval is deemed to have been obtained. It is important to note that a low appraisal does not give a buyer a right to terminate the contract pursuant to Paragraph 2B of the Third Party Financing Addendum if the property meets the lender’s underwriting requirements notwithstanding a low appraisal. Further, if the lender reduces the amount of the loan because of the low appraisal, the buyer will be required to bring additional cash to the close to make up any difference between the loan and the sales price.