Agreement to Reinstate Contract New GAR Form 290

​The Agreement to Reinstate Contract is a new GAR form.  It can be used if there is a situation in which the original contract was terminated, but the parties wish to continue the relationship.  A common situation involves the Amendment to Address Concerns (ATAC).  Agents often add language to the ATAC that is intended to protect their buyers, but can result in an unintended termination: If the ATAC is not accepted, then the Seller is served Notice of Buyer’s decision to terminate the contract.  If the Seller does not accept the ATAC as written, the contract is thereby terminated. But hold on! The Buyer didn’t really want to Terminate, just to protect its earnest money.
 
So long as both parties agree, this is a perfect situation for the new form.  The Buyer and Seller can resurrect the contract using Form 290.  Note that there is space on the form to include any changes to the contract to which both parties agree.
 
For those of you that are thinking that this breaks the rule that you cannot resurrect a dead contract, yes, you are right. This is a change, blessed by the GAR.
 

​This is the operative language in the Agreement to Reinstate Contract:

1. Buyer and Seller mutually agree to reinstate the last fully, agreed upon version of the above-referenced Agreement such that it shall again be a legally enforceable contract, including Binding Agreement Date, and binding upon the parties as if it had never been terminated.
2. All of the terms, conditions and time periods set forth in the above-referenced Agreement shall remain in full force and effect except for any changes thereto set forth below which shall control over any conflicting or inconsistent provisions set forth in the above-referenced Agreement.

The new 2021 Form 290 also contains language above the signatures acknowledging the parties have read and understood the content. While courts presume this when parties sign contracts, stating it in the contract reinforces the point and makes it harder for parties to later claim that they did not understand what they were signing.
 “By signing this Agreement to Reinstate Contract, Buyer and Seller acknowledge that they have each read and understood this Agreement to Reinstate Contract and agree to its terms.”