Contract tip - Waiver

Waiver occurs when there is a condition in a contract that protects one of the parties and the protected party voluntarily gives up the protection of that condition.

For example, your friend offers to sell you their car for $1000 on the express condition that the car is “undamaged.” This condition is meant to protect you (the buyer) from buying a damaged car.

Assume further that when you see the car, you discover it has a large dent on the driver’s side. Since the “undamaged” condition has not been met, you do not need to go through with this contract.

However, if you still really want the car, you can choose to waive the condition and follow through with the contract, because the condition was meant to protect you.

It is a good idea to include a “waiver” clause in a contract, which states that a waiver of one condition is not to be construed as a waiver of all conditions. This will prevent the other party from trying to claim that you waived all of your protections just because you were nice enough to waive one.

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