Florida's FAR BAR contract for the sale and purchase of land

FAR/BAR Contract refers to the form issued by the joint committee of Florida Realtors (formerly known as Florida Association of Realtors) and The Florida Bar that develops real estate forms approved by both organizations. This is an officially licensed form that may be used by real estate brokers, attorneys, investors or buyers and sellers of real estate. The Far/Bar form has many commonly used provisions in standard real estate contracts, such as clauses for financing contingencies, property inspection, evidence of title and closing procedures. The Far/Bar contract is well-known among real estate professionals.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Bill, you’re on News 96.5 go ahead.

Bill: Hi, my name’s Bill and I’m calling about a point in a real estate law that has me concerned. It seems that in Florida, very often when you go to closing, things don’t turn out the way they’re supposed to. Sometimes, the seller doesn’t get paid what he thought he was getting, or the buyer has to come up with extra money.

Attorney Tom Olsen: Bill, I would counter what you’re saying by this, is that in the state of Florida, we have some standard form contracts. They’re called the Far Bar contracts. Those contracts, or the form of it is prepared in conjunction with real estate agents, brokers and lawyers. So, together that group has come together and said, here’s a standard form, Far Bar contract.

It is used to the vast majority of times. I’m going to say 99% of times we’re using this Far Bar contract. When you sign a Far Bar contract as a buyer or as a seller, whether you know it or not, all the issues have been determined, all of the questions have been answered and there’s nothing that is left to ambiguity within these contracts.

Bill, I don’t know how it went wrong for you, but I would say your issues are what I would say would not be a common issue at a typical closing, again, it's a Far Bar contract. Thank you for calling Bill.