On  September 13, 2001, the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Onondaga County Bar Association approved a revised form of contract for use in residential real estate transactions.

The current contract was approved in 1996.  In light of the many recent changes in law and procedures that impact on real estate practice, the members of the Real Property Section concluded that it was imperative to revise the contract to address these changes.  It is intended that the new contract be a "Living Document" - one that will be continually amended to reflect changes in real estate law and practice.

In producing the document, revised contracts from several jurisdictions such as Erie County, Monroe County, and New York County were reviewed and considered.  At various stages, drafts were submitted to many members of the bar for review and comments.  The comments received were invaluable in producing the final document.

The revised contract incorporates provisions that were previously set forth in a variety of riders and schedules.  It is intended to be more user friendly, having been drafted with larger type and an 8.5 by 11 inch format to facilitate facsimiles.  The document places variable information on the first five pages, followed by uniform general conditions.  It improves the attorney approval procedure, and addresses property disclosure and environmental concerns.  As mentioned, the revised contract is a "Living Document" and will be revised to reflect the passage of the "Property Conditions Disclosure Act" which became law on November 14, 2001, effective March 1, 2002.

The residential real estate transaction becomes increasingly complex.  The pitfalls and demands upon the practitioner are many.  The revised contract was produced with this in mind, and is also intended to be helpful to new attorneys entering the practice.

The revised contract will now be reviewed by a committee of the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors for the purpose of producing a document that will be used universally in the community.  Copies of the new contract are available at the Bar Office or electronically from the FORMS section of this site.

Finally, we express sincere appreciation to a hardworking subcommittee consisting of Tom Barnell, Peter Colman, Gil Hoffman, Vaughn Lang, Tracy Wittenburg, and Rocco Mangano, who have met regularly over the past three years to produce the revised contract.