How are Days Calculated under the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors Residential Offer and Acceptance Agreement?

How are days calculated under the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors (RSAR) Residential Offer and Acceptance Agreement (aka the "purchase agreement" or "O&A")?

This is an important, fundamental question because deadlines need to be calculated correctly.

If the deadline is calculated with "calendar days", every day counts, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. If the deadline is calculated with "business days", Saturdays, Sundays, and any "legal holiday recognized in the state of Nevada" (see O&A 2:3-4) are excluded.

Under the purchase agreement, "DAYS means calendar days unless otherwise specified." (O&A 2:1-2). In other words, unless the deadline in question says "business days," the deadline is counted with "calendar days."

Importantly, in "computing any period of time prescribed under [the purchase agreement], the day of the event from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included." (O&A 2:2-3). But the "last day of the period shall be included." (Id.)

Here is an example of how this works. Under the purchase agreement, "BUYER shall have five (5) days from receipt of [the HOA document package] to review it. If BUYER does not approve . . . then written notice to cancel must be given within that same five (5) day period."

Pretend a buyer received the HOA package on January 4. Because there is no mention of business days, every day counts. Even if the buyer received the package at 6:00am in the morning, January 4 does not count towards the five days. The five days would be January 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. But because the last day is included, if the buyer wants to cancel, they need to deliver that cancellation before midnight on January 9.

(What constitutes "delivery" is another subject).

Here are a few additional really important pointers. First, regardless of whether the deadline is being calculated under business days or calendar days, the time period runs until 11:59:59 of the last day, not 5:00pm or the "close of business" like it does in some contracts.

Second, and even more importantly, there is no automatic extension in the purchase agreement if the last day falls on a weekend or holiday (unless it is calculated as a business day). If you accidentally schedule a close of escrow for January 9, a Sunday, you either need to get an extension or close on January 7--otherwise you will risk being out of contract.

Under the RSAR purchase agreement, if you miss a deadline, it is automatically waived (O&A 7:10-11), so make sure you calendar the dates correctly!

Legal Disclaimers (Read This):This is a social media post written late in the day before I leave the office. It does not constitute professional legal or real estate advice. Independently verify everything I have written with a licensed professional and/or your real estate broker before relying upon it. This is specific to a local purchase agreement and local market--it doesn't apply anywhere else. In fact, don't rely on any social media or blog posts, including mine, for anything without independently verifying the facts--that would be crazy.