A “standard form contract” is really just a contract like any other. It is drafted for the benefit of the client who hired the lawyer to draft the contract. Buyers and Sellers should therefore be very concerned that the terms in the contract were not written for their benefit.
For example, most of standard form residential contracts we see are drafted for a local, private, association of real estate brokers and agents. The lawyer(s) who drafted those contracts did so on behalf of that association to help its members facilitate home sales in the most efficient manner possible. The drafting lawyers may not have been not very interested in giving the Buyer (or Seller) the protections that Buyer (or Seller) would want to have in a fully negotiated agreement.
This leaves Buyers and Sellers in danger. They often think they are protected because a contract is called “standard” and many people use it. But without modifications to that contract based on the specifics of their deal, the protections Buyers and Sellers want are probably not in that “standard” contract.
If you would like our office to review your contract or draft a custom one, please contact us at 314.862.2237 or email at mjacob@marcjacobesq.com
