Changes coming to PAR Standard Forms: What you need to know

In the span of a few months, you will see many changes to your Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® Standard Forms library.

Some are large, sweeping changes, while others are a little more subtle. Here are some highlights of what has changed and when you can expect to see these changes in the marketplace.

• On June 1, we will release the revised Agreement of Sale for Commercial Real Estate (PAR Form ASC), and a completely overhauled Commercial Lease (PAR Form CL), with a companion addendum called the Operating Expense Addendum (PAR Form OXA). The changes to the ASC are relatively minor and fix certain issues that arose after its initial release last May. The bulk of the revisions were made to Paragraph 11 on Buyer’s Due Diligence. The Commercial Lease was completely rewritten to replace the outdated Non-Residential Lease, Parts I and II. In doing so, a new addendum was created – the Operating Expense Addendum – in order to customize a standard triple net lease. Because these forms are brand new, there are no “redline” versions to compare against the existing form.
• On May 1, five revised addenda were made available: the Appraisal Contingency Addendum (PAR Form ACA), the Broker’s Disclosure Addendum (PAR Form BDA), the Buyer’s Estimated Costs and Deposit Money Notice (PAR Form BEC), the Buyer’s Financial Information sheet (PAR Form BFI) and the Pre-Settlement Possession Addendum (PAR Form PRE). Many forms had small changes made to reflect the changes made to the Standard Agreement of Sale (PAR Form ASR) last May.
• On April 1, we released the updated ASR which contains the small improvements approved by the Forms Committee in January.

But our work is not done! The Addenda Review Task Force is still at work, making changes to all of the addenda and miscellaneous forms in the PAR library and creating new forms for our members. The remaining three Agreements of Sale – Manufactured Home, New Construction and Vacant Land – are also being revised at the moment.