This is not the case in our case. I am under the impression that the defendant's insistence on setting payment dates was sincere and substantive, and stemmed from practical and real reasons. The defendant did not even reach the stage where he was required to approve the payment dates, since, at the relevant date, he had not yet finished his intention to enter into the contract. This was after he was unable to find an alternative apartment for purchase, despite considerable efforts he had invested in it, since Mr. Herman informed him, on October 13,2024, that he would not be able to purchase an alternative apartment for the amount he had sought to purchase in the first place.
Interim Summary - Conclusion and Specificity
In the present case, I was under the impression that no contractual agreement was formulated between the parties that clearly indicates a meeting of wills. The draft contract that was exchanged between the attorneys, in and of itself, is insufficient. The entirety of the conduct does not attest to binding consent. The parties were close to entering into a binding contractual relationship. However, the negotiations between them did not mature into a binding legal agreement. A final draft was not formulated and the plaintiff's proposal had not yet been approved by the defendant, and in any event, there was no discretion on his part to enter into a binding contract.
The plaintiff was not entitled to assume the existence of a signed contract before all the conditions were agreed upon between the parties, including the dates of payment of the consideration. The defendant's withdrawal from the transaction because he did not find an alternative apartment and did not receive mortgage approval explains the reason for his withdrawal, but does not prove that there was prior agreement on his part to the payment dates or his decision to enter into the contract. I have not found that in the circumstances of the present case it is possible to complete the transaction according to it. The draft is indeed detailed and contains many agreements, but this is not enough.