Opinion ID: 2995635
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Final negotiations and material

Text: terms Throughout the negotiations preceding the settlement agreement, the Sellers insisted upon a rigid, absolute closing date. Indeed, three days before Ocean Atlantic signed the agreement, the Sellers’ attorneys stressed that an essential and material part of the bargain had to be that, If Ocean Atlantic, for any reason whatsoever, fails to close on the property within 90 days from the execution of [the] settlement document, it shall forfeit any and all rights it may have to purchase the property. Ocean Atlantic’s attorney acknowledged that negotiations would fail unless his client agreed to: (1) a closing date or dates without the possibility of extensions or delays; and (2) the absolute right of [the Sellers] to terminate the contract in the event of a failure to close on the set closing date(s). Ocean Atlantic further emphasized its understanding of the importance of these terms in the same signed letter, stating, Ocean Atlantic will agree that failure to close . . . shall result in Plaintiff’s unequivocal right to terminate the contract. After reviewing this and other evidence in the record before him, the trial judge found that a final ’drop-dead’ closing date [was] an integral part of any final settlement agreement. The district court specifically concluded that there were three material provisions in the settlement agreement. First, the parties unequivocally agreed to close and transfer the funds and the property on one fixed date, January 25, 2001, rather than on three separate dates, as they had originally planned. Second, the parties agreed that January 25, 2001 would be an absolute, final date for closing. Third, the Sellers agreed to waive any future litigation over the sewer moratorium. With respect to the time-essence clause, the trial judge found that [the Sellers] wanted the certainty that by one particular date (in this case, January 25, 2001) either a closing would occur, or the contract would be terminated. 132 F. Supp.2d at 665-66. Underscoring the importance of the drop-dead closing clause, the trial court found that the Sellers would never have dismissed their lawsuit with prejudice, and entered into the Settlement Agreement if paragraph 15-- providing for a final, absolute closing date--had not been included and agreed upon. Id. at 671.