Can a seller retract acceptance of an offer if all buyers have not yet signed the contract?

For example: on Standard Form 2-T, it listed three individuals as “Buyer” in paragraph 1(b), but only one signs the offer which is sent to the seller’s agent. The seller’s agent sends the offer to their client.

The price and other terms are acceptable to the seller, so the seller signs and it is sent back to the buyer agent.

Time passes, and the sellers agent repeatedly asks for a signed offer with the other buyer’s signatures, but they don’t get a response.

Question: Is it too late for the seller to retract their acceptance?

Answer: Normally, a seller’s right to terminate a standard form contract is fairly limited once the contract is effective. They are locked into the deal with the exception of limited circumstances like buyer breach of contract, etc.

BUT, the failure of all the buyers to sign the offer means that the “contract” the seller signed has not yet become effective.

“Buyers” in this instance are defined in the contract as 3 people. Paragraph 1(g) of Form 2-T defines the “Effective Date” of the contract to be the date that the last one of Buyer and Seller has signed or initialed the offer and such signing or initialing has been communicated to the other side.

Since all buyers have not signed, the the contact is not yet effective, and the seller can retract their acceptance.

As always, this is based on the current version of Standard Offer To Purchase Form 2-T - which can change over time, so the answer in this example could change if the terms of the standard contract are updated. Always check with a licensed real estate agent for current guidance.