Monday April, 2014 12:37 AM Filed in:
Real Estate FormsQ: Can I use the GAR Purchase and Sale Agreement if I am not a licensed real estate agent.
A: Yes and no. The Georgia Association of Realtors claims a copyright on their published forms. Forms may be used upon payment of a licensing fee, or in a transaction handled by someone who is licensed to use the forms, such as a real estate agent on the other side of the transaction.
If you are not working with a Georgia licensed real estate agent and need a purchase and sales agreement form, you have some options. You may contact a real estate attorney who can draft the contract for you. As a real estate attorney practitioner, I would advise against using boilerplate contracts that are not written for Georgia properties. Those types of agreements occasionally make their way to our offices and they often contain errors, defects or omissions. Invariably this leads to a completely unnecessary renegotiation of the terms. Some people may choose to simply obtain a copy of the GAR form and use that. I would caution against this for a few reasons, beside the fact that this would violate the licensing terms for use of the form. First, the GAR form is designed to be used with a host of other templates forms that are not available unless you are a licensee to the form package. Second, the GAR form is not the best form out there. It is better to have a contract custom drafted for the situation and this is not always as neutral the GAR form attempts to be. Best option is to contact a real estate attorney.
CHRIS PAHL
Real Estate Attorney
945 E Paces Ferry Rd
Suite 2250
Atlanta, GA 30326
Tel. +1 (678) 448-4148
web: GeorgiaTitle.com
contact: PaperAndDirt.comTags: Use of GAR Forms, Purchase Agreements, Sales Contracts, GAR Forms, Georgia Association of Realtor Forms
