UNDERSTANDING THE 8-DAY UNILATERAL EXTENSION IN THE GAR® CONTRACT

What is the 8-Day Unilateral Extension?
The 8-day unilateral extension is a provision in the GAR® purchase and sale agreement where the buyer or seller may unilaterally extend the Closing Date for eight (8) days upon notice to the other party given prior to or on the date of closing. This means that one party can decide to extend the closing date by eight days without the need for the other party’s agreement.
When Can This Extension Be Used?
There are three main scenarios where the unilateral extension can be used:

1. The seller cannot satisfy valid title objections. These are title issues that the payment of money cannot solve.  If the title company will insure, this also cannot be a reason to extend.
2. The buyer’s mortgage lender (including in transactions where the financing contingency has expired) or the closing attorney is delayed and can’t meet their obligations by the closing date. However, this delay shouldn’t be caused by the buyer.
3. The buyer has not received the required estimates or disclosures, and Buyer is prohibited from closing under federal regulations.

If the Buyer or Seller is unilaterally extending for one of the available reasons in the Agreement, they should use the Notice to Unilaterally Extend the Closing Date for Eight Days (GAR Form F270). The deadline is the closing date. Unless the parties have selected another time for deadlines, the extension would need to be done by 11:59pm the day of closing. The extension can only be used once per contract.
The 8-day unilateral extension CANNOT be used if the delay is caused by the buyer.

• If the buyer hasn’t provided the initial documents requested by the lender at the start of the loan process, then the delay is indeed the buyer’s fault so the extension cannot be used.
• If the buyer’s actions, such as making a large purchase that affects their credit score or debt-to-income ratio, cause a delay, then the extension cannot be used.
• If the buyer changes lenders in the middle of the contract, the extension cannot be used.
• If the buyer or seller goes on vacation, the extension cannot be used.