法律诉讼常识：小心并知道你正在签署什么？

商业房地产开发时， 会涉及大量资金和各方的承诺。此外，适当的尽职调查（Due  Diligence） 需要获取并审查卖家所拥有的商业机密和隐私信息。许多卖家大都愿意在没有意向书（a  letter of intent） 的情况下披露相关保密信息。如买方签署意向书，就意味向卖方表明-----买方对该物业产生了真正的兴趣。

意向书中通常会明确声明它没有法律约束力。但是，这是否真的意味，签订意向书的双方，是否在法律上具有约束力呢？这取决于下面几种情况：
首先，如果意向书包含双方同意的重要条款，并且未明确提及未来的正式协议，则意向书可能具有合同的约束力。

另一方面，即使意向书中明确提及了对未来正式协议（Formal Agreement）的存在，然后具体案例中的事实表明，未来的协议虽只是形式上反映意向书中已经记录的条款，意向书也存在极大的法律约束力的可能性。

这里讨论的关键是，在涉及大量资金的商业房地产交易中，当事人一定要小心并知道你正在签署什么。

注：以上文字仅供参考。读者无权依赖它作为法律建议。 原文为英文，由黄云峰律师撰写。

Commercial real estate development involves significant money and commitment.  In addition, a proper due diligence would require access to, and review, confidential and private information in the vendor’s possession.   Many vendors are willing to disclose confidential information without a letter of intent.  Letter of intent is signed by the purchaser to show the vendor that the purchaser is genuinely interested in the property.

Often times, the LOI would expressly state that it is not binding.  However, does it mean that it is in fact not binding in law?  It depends.

If the LOI contains material terms agreed to by the parties and there is no express reference to a future formal agreement, there is a serious risk that the LOI may be contractually binding.

On the other hand, even if the LOI does contain an express reference to a future formal agreement, if the facts of the case suggest that the future agreement is only a formality to reflect the material terms already recorded in the LOI, there is also a serious risk that the LOI is legally binding.

The key take-away is that in commercial real estate deals where substantial money is involved, be careful and know what you are signing.

联络方法

Rebecca Huang* and Associates Barristers

330 Bay Street, Suite 311
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5H 2S8

電話 : 416.306.8450

傳真 : 416.306.8451

*(Rebecca Huang Professional Corporation) 提供法律服务

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