Bilateral Contract
A bilateral contract is a pretty straightforward term. No horseplay there. It’s a legal agreement between two individuals who both agree to do (or not to do) a specific act.
The truth is that, when you think of the standard contract, you think of a bilateral contract. It’s one of those instances where one part of the term is so usual, it gets dropped out of the term, so people omit the “bilateral” and just say contract. In it, each party has its set of obligations; even if it’s party A does a service, party B pays for it. Or, more simple than that: if party A is responsible for giving money and party B for transferring the title to party A.
However, there are rare unilateral contracts where one party is under the obligation of giving a compensation should the other party perform a specific task, but the other party is not obligated to perform that task. In other words, when one party failing to perform a task is not considered a breach of contract, it’s not a bilateral contract but a unilateral.
An example of a bilateral contract in real estate is a regular property sale. The home seller is obligated to give the house and put it under the buyer’s name if the home buyer pays for the amount specified on the bilateral contract. Now, in an exclusive agency listing, what the real estate agent does with a home seller is not a bilateral contract but an unilateral contract because it specifies that the homeowner must pay a commission to that agent if the real estate agent brings the best deal for him; however, he is not in breach of contract if he doesn’t bring the winning bid. Got it?
Sign a bilateral contract with “smart”: don’t go the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route; find a real estate agent to go with you on this journey!
Popular Real Estate Terms
One that is legally binding because it is in conformity with legal requirements and conditions. ...
Ability of a large group of retail stores or shopping center to take business away from other smaller or more distant shopping stores. ...
Conditions and terms agreed to in a contract. ...
Reformation in real estate means a legal action to straighten out an erroneous deed, a misleading document, an error, a paragraph, or a contract entirely which resulted from an ...
The closing process is the final step of a property sale. It starts when the home seller agrees to the home buyer’s offer and it ends after all Closing costs are paid ...
The company is not responsible to a third party if an account or financial instrument is dishonored by the debtor. The creditor's recourse is solely to the debtor's property. An example is ...
U.S. law making it illegal to discriminate when giving credit based on factors such as race, religion, color, age, national origin. A lender must respond to credit applications within 30 ...
Barrel, reservoir, or tank for storing rain runoff. ...
“What is Situs?”, you ask.Situs is a word in Latin that basically means the site or location where something exists or originates. Like most words in latin, situs is usually ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.