FACTS:                    

In connection with the Arizona REALTORS® Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract (Contract), the buyer submitted a prequalification form indicating that the buyer was relying on the sale of her home as a condition to obtaining financing.  A week after the Contract was entered into, the buyer presented another prequalification form which provided that the sale of the buyer’s home is not a condition for financing based on a program with a different lender.  

ISSUE:                      

Must the buyer obtain seller’s consent to this change in lender? 

ANSWER:                

No.  See discussion. 

DISCUSSION:         

Section 2k of the Contract addresses the situation.  The seller’s consent is required only if the change adversely affects the buyer’s ability to obtain loan approval, increases the seller’s closing costs, or delays the close of escrow.  Here, none of those conditions are present.  In fact, the subsequent loan program is more beneficial to the seller.  Accordingly, the seller need not consent to the changes.  The notice provided by the buyer is sufficient.