Opinion ID: 2091985
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duration Under Sections 3 (b)-(d) of the Agreement

Text: Section 3 (b), (c) and (d) of the agreement also allow the option to be exercised after the 21-year perpetuities period, which would expire in December 1999. Section 3 (b) authorizes the option to be exercised at any time following the maturity of the mortgage note. The only limit on duration is found in section 4, which designates December 31, 2003, to be the latest possible closing date. The option could thus be exercised until October 2003 pursuant to section 3 (b). Section 3 (c) and (d) each permits exercise of the option for a defined period following a specified contingency. Section 3 (c) is contingent upon termination of the lease; section 3 (d) is contingent upon Symphony's default on the mortgage. Neither the lease nor the mortgage, however, expires until a date in 2003. The lease could therefore be terminated, or Symphony could default on the mortgage, some time prior to 2003 but after the 21-year period lapses in December 1999. Defendants, in turn, could potentially exercise the option during this interval. Defendants urge that, under EPTL 9-1.3 (b), (d), we must presume the parties expected these contingencies to occur, if at all, within the 21-year period. A contrary intention, however, appears in the agreement itself. By specifying in section 4 that the closing date could be scheduled as late as December 31, 2003, the parties manifested their expectation that the contingency might occur and the option might be exercised as late as October 2003, well beyond December 1999. Again, EPTL 9-1.3 (b), (d) cannot save these provisions.