Opinion ID: 1792682
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Penalty Provision

Text: The settlement agreement and contract contain a penalty provision which provides the following: In the event that [the Estate] provides marketable title to the subject real estate, but closing does not occur on or before March 1, 2003, as a result of nonperformance by [Passehls], then the parties agree that the $20,000.00 deposited into the Brian D. Miller [the Estate's attorney's] Trust Account shall be forfeited to [the Estate]. A plain reading of this provision indicates the Estate must provide a marketable title to the subject real estate before the penalty provision can be enforced. Because the penalty provision sets forth a specific order of performance, the Estate's obligation to provide title to the appropriate real estate is a precondition to the enforcement of the penalty provision. As mentioned above, the Estate never proffered a deed to the real estate described in the settlement agreement or the real estate contract. Therefore, the penalty provisions contained within the written settlement agreement and real estate contract were not triggered.