Novation

What is Novation? 

What is the definition of novation? Jointly agreeing to provide an equivalent legal obligation or debt for a previous one. Persons to the contract can also be substituted. A novation requires a valid previous contract, mutual agreement of all the parties to the contract, and the termination of the original contract or discharge of the original parties before the substitution of a new contract and/or parties to it, respectively. A novation may arise when one party is experiencing financial or operating difficulty in a real estate transaction.

What does novation mean in real estate?

Novation in real estate is usually used in regards to the transfer of complex property leases and similar cases. Novation is most often used in one of two cases. It can be used in replacing one party with another in a contract or agreement, or it can be used to substitute new terms or contracts in place of old ones. In either case, this is done with mutual consent of all involved. 

Novation real estate examples 

Novation in real estate is most common when transferring a leased property from one party to another. In these cases, the landlord, previous leasing party and hopeful leasing party must negotiate and agree on all changes to existing agreements and contracts, and rewrite the contracts and agreements to the satisfaction of all parties involved. 

Another common example of novation in real estate is the sale of property with unpaid mortgages. When selling a property that is mortgaged to a bank, the seller, the buyer and the bank must agree on the terms of the sale of the property.The assumption of responsibility by the buyer for mortgage payments must be previously accepted by the bank, usually after an extensive background and financial check on the buyer.