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ARTICLE · 29 NOVEMBER 2011

The E-mail’s The Thing

McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault
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McCarthy Tétrault

McCarthy Tétrault

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You know the situation. You have been communicating back and forth by e-mail with the other party and somewhere along the way it occurs to you, "Do we have an agreement here, or have we just been talking?" Your next call is to your lawyer.

CanadaReal Estate and Construction
Russell Benson
Russell Benson
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You know the situation. You have been communicating back and forth by e-mail with the other party and somewhere along the way it occurs to you, "Do we have an agreement here, or have we just been talking?" Your next call is to your lawyer.

In Nicholas Prestige Homes v. Neal (2010) EWCA Civ 1552 (released on December 1, 2010), the English Court of Appeal was asked to determine whether an exchange of e-mails created a binding agreement between a real estate broker and a potential seller of residential property. The facts were quite straightforward and may well sound familiar.

The seller contacted the plaintiff brokers to discuss matters relating to the sale, and the brokers visited her at her property. The next day, the brokers followed up by e-mail to thank the seller for her "instructions" and to "confirm the agreed arrangements." They attached both a multiple-agency agreement which they said was to be effective for an interim period while the seller wrapped up

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