Ask a Maritime Attorney: Purchase Agreements and Withdrawing an Offer

Question: I recently made an offer to purchase a boat through a yacht broker and the offer was accepted. Unfortunately, I lost my job due to the pandemic and I simply cannot afford to buy the boat now. The offer was made contingent upon sea trial and survey, but there was no contingency in the contract regarding my financial ability to buy the boat. Is my deposit at risk if I withdraw the offer?   Answer You are probably OK, but the answer will depend on the language of your purchase agreement. The language of a yacht purchase agreement may vary quite a bit depending on the preferences of individual yacht brokers, but in California, the most common purchase agreement is the document published by the California Yacht Brokers Association. The philosophy used by the CYBA in drafting their standard purchase agreement was that they did not want to force anyone to buy a boat. Under the CYBA purchase agreement, the vessel is “deemed rejected” unless the buyer signs a final acceptance prior to a certain date. And, when a vessel is rejected, the contract requires the return of the buyer’s deposit, net of any unpaid costs relating to the transaction (such as the cost...