New York Real Estate Contract Timeline: Attorney Approval, Mortgage Commitment and Closing

The New York real estate contract timeline, in short: there's no statewide form, and nothing binds until a written contract is signed and delivered. On the bar-association Residential Contract of Sale, the mortgage Commitment Date (45 days after delivery in the copy we checked) opens a 5-business-day window to cancel. Upstate forms may add attorney approval, measured in business days.

More on this topic: Contract deadlines by state, every guide in one place.

This guide uses the bar-association form's paragraph numbers and the statutes behind them. Forms vary by region and attorneys rewrite them with riders, so treat it as a map, not legal advice; the executed contract controls. Other states: see the deadlines in a purchase contract or the New Jersey attorney review period.

Key takeaways

• New York has no mandatory statewide purchase contract. The best-known form is the bar-association Residential Contract of Sale; upstate regions have their own, such as the Buffalo-area form approved by the local REALTOR association and county bar.
• An accepted offer isn't a contract: real property sales need a signed writing (General Obligations Law § 5-703), and the bar form isn't binding until executed and delivered by both sides (paragraph 28(e)).
• In the bar form, the buyer can cancel for no mortgage commitment within 5 business days after the Commitment Date; the seller has the same 5 business days to cancel if it hasn't seen a commitment (paragraph 8).
• Since March 20, 2024 the seller must deliver the Property Condition Disclosure Statement before the buyer signs, and the old $500 credit option is gone.
• A deadline that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or New York public holiday generally moves to the next business day (General Construction Law § 25), and New York's holiday list includes days the federal one doesn't.

Is there a standard real estate contract in New York?

No. New York has no state-mandated purchase contract. The best-known form is the Residential Contract of Sale, which the New York City Bar lists as issued in 2000 by its Real Property Law Committee and the New York State Bar Association's Real Property Law Section. Riders commonly change it, and a rider can override anything below.

Upstate regions have their own forms; the one in the Court of Appeals' 2008 decision in Moran v Erk was approved by the Greater Buffalo Association of Realtors and the Bar Association of Erie County. Whatever the form, a contract to sell real property must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged (General Obligations Law § 5-703), and the bar form isn't binding until executed and delivered by both sides (paragraph 28(e)).

What are the deadlines in a New York contract of sale?

The bar-association form's dates, plus the statutory ones; “fill-in” means a blank.

Notices sent by certified or registered mail are deemed given on the third business day after mailing, and notices to the Escrowee only on receipt (paragraph 25). Use the real estate deadline calculator for calendar-day dates and the business days calculator for business-day ones.

How does attorney approval work in New York?

Attorney approval is a contingency written into the contract, not a statute; New York has no statewide review period like New Jersey's three business days. It appears in upstate regional forms such as the one in Moran v Erk. There the rider made the contract contingent on approval by both attorneys by the third business day after each attorney received a copy of the fully executed contract. If either attorney disapproved within that time, the contract was void and the deposit returned.

The Court of Appeals held that, absent other limits in the contract, an attorney may timely disapprove “for any reason or for no stated reason”. So record when each attorney received the signed contract (each side's clock can differ), and check your form's wording: current regional forms may count differently.

How does the mortgage commitment contingency work in the bar form?

Paragraph 8 makes the buyer's obligation conditional on a written commitment from an Institutional Lender, issued on or before the Commitment Date. The copy we read has 45 days filled in, counted from when a fully executed copy is given to the buyer or the buyer's attorney under the notice rules. The committee's Notes say these are calendar days and suggest the seller's attorney state the calculated Commitment Date in the letter delivering the contract. Calendar that date.

• The buyer must apply promptly, pursue the application diligently and send the seller a copy of the commitment once received (8(b)).
• If every lender denies the application in writing before the Commitment Date, the buyer may cancel with copies of the denials (8(d)).
• If no commitment issues by the Commitment Date, the buyer may cancel by Notice within 5 business days after it (8(e)). Miss that window, or accept a non-conforming commitment, and the right to cancel and recover the Downpayment is waived (8(g)).
• If the seller hasn't received a copy of an accepted commitment by the Commitment Date, the seller may cancel by Notice within 5 business days after it; the cancellation takes effect unless the buyer delivers a commitment within 10 business days after the Commitment Date (8(h)).
• A commitment conditioned on the lender approving an appraisal doesn't count until the appraisal is approved. Once a commitment issues, the buyer is bound even if the lender later refuses to fund (8(a)).

See low appraisal options for what usually happens when the appraisal comes in short.

Where does the down payment go, and when can it be released?

In the bar form the buyer pays the Downpayment on signing by check to the Escrowee (paragraph 3(a)), and the Escrowee is the seller's attorney, who holds it in a segregated account until closing (paragraph 6). If the deal doesn't close and one side demands the money, the other side has 10 business days after the Escrowee's notice to object; otherwise the Escrowee may pay it out.

If the buyer defaults, the seller's sole remedy is to keep the Downpayment as liquidated damages; if the seller defaults, the buyer keeps its remedies at law or in equity, including specific performance (paragraph 23). That's why the 5-business-day mortgage window matters: after it, a buyer who can't close risks the Downpayment. More in the earnest money deadline.

What changed in New York's Property Condition Disclosure Act?

Real Property Law § 462 requires the seller to complete and sign the Property Condition Disclosure Statement and deliver it to the buyer or buyer's agent before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale. Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023 took effect on March 20, 2024. According to the New York State Bar Association's summary, it deleted the option of giving the buyer a $500 credit at closing instead of the statement, repealed § 467, and added flood-related questions, taking the form from 49 to 56 questions. § 465 now says a seller who provides, or fails to provide, the statement is liable only for a willful failure, for the buyer's actual damages.

Get the signed statement into the file before the buyer signs. For homes built before 1978, the federal lead-based paint disclosure also applies, including a 10-day opportunity for a lead inspection unless the parties change it in writing or the buyer waives it. See seller disclosure requirements by state.

Is there an inspection contingency in a New York contract?

Not in the bar form. In paragraph 12 the buyer says it knows the property's condition from its own inspection and takes it “as is”, with a right to inspect again before closing. So inspections usually happen before signing, and an inspection contingency needs a rider with its own dates. Regional upstate forms may include an inspection contingency, so read the form you have.

How do weekends and holidays affect New York deadlines?

General Construction Law § 25 says that when a contract requires performance on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, or a period counted from a date ends on one, the act may be done on the next business day, unless the contract expressly or impliedly says otherwise. New York's public holidays (§ 24) include days that aren't federal holidays, such as Lincoln's Birthday (February 12) and general election day.

Here's how a bar-form timeline can work out, assuming the seller's attorney delivers the fully executed contract on Monday, November 16, 2026 and the 45-day blank:

The dates are illustrative; the executed contract, its riders and the attorneys' letters control. More on counting in calendar days vs business days.

How do you track a New York contract in Closingbird?

Start the file when the contract is fully executed and delivered, copy the Commitment Date from the seller's attorney's letter, and add the windows after it: 5 business days for either side to cancel, 10 for the buyer's cure.

Closingbird reads the executed contract and fills in the dates it finds; you check and edit them. Reading covers about the first 12,000 characters, and the bar form plus riders runs past that, so check the Commitment Date and closing date came through (see how contract reading works). The Commitment Date runs from delivery, not acceptance, so set a fixed date for it and for the windows chained to it. Closingbird's business days skip weekends and US federal holidays only, not Lincoln's Birthday or Election Day, so check any window that crosses them. Each owner gets a reminder every morning. See deadline tracking and business days vs calendar days.

Frequently asked questions

Is an accepted offer binding in New York?

Generally not. A sale of real property needs a signed writing (General Obligations Law § 5-703), and the bar-association contract says it isn't binding until executed and delivered by both parties.

How long is attorney review in New York?

There's no statewide period. It depends on the contract: the Buffalo-area form in Moran v Erk gave each attorney until the third business day after receiving the fully executed contract, and an attorney could disapprove for any reason.

How long is the mortgage contingency in a New York contract?

Whatever the Commitment Date blank says; the copy of the bar form we read has 45 days after the buyer receives the fully executed contract. After that, the buyer has 5 business days to cancel if no commitment has issued.

Is the $500 property condition disclosure credit still available?

No. Since March 20, 2024 the seller must deliver the Property Condition Disclosure Statement before the buyer signs a binding contract, and the credit option was deleted.

What if a New York contract deadline falls on a weekend?

Under General Construction Law § 25, performance due on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday generally moves to the next business day, unless the contract shows a different intent.

Run it in Closingbird

Upload a fully executed New York contract, set the Commitment Date from the attorney's letter, and give each window an owner who gets a morning reminder. Start a free trial (14-day free trial, no credit card required) or see pricing.

Related reading

• The deadlines in a purchase contract
• New Jersey attorney review period
• Massachusetts purchase and sale agreement timeline
• Calendar days vs business days
• Business days calculator
• Real estate deadline calculator

Sources

Checked in October 2026. Rules and prices change, and many vary by state, so confirm with the source, your state's real estate commission or your broker before you rely on them.

• New York City Bar: Real Estate Forms (lists the Residential Contract of Sale as issued in 2000 by the City Bar's Real Property Law Committee and the NYSBA Real Property Law Section)
• Residential Contract of Sale, jointly prepared by the NYSBA Real Property Section, the New York State Land Title Association and the City Bar and NYCLA real property committees (11-2000 edition, with the Notes on the Mortgage Commitment Contingency Clause; copy posted by Stewart Title)
• New York Court of Appeals: Moran v Erk, 2008 NY Slip Op 09255 (November 25, 2008), attorney approval contingency
• New York Real Property Law § 462, property condition disclosure statement
• New York Real Property Law § 465, liability (revised March 29, 2024)
• New York State Bar Association: Property Condition Disclosure Act amended; $500 seller credit deleted (Karl Holtzschue, February 28, 2024)
• New York General Obligations Law § 5-703, contracts for the sale of real property must be in writing
• New York General Construction Law § 25, public holiday, Saturday or Sunday in contractual obligations
• New York General Construction Law § 24, public holidays
• US EPA: real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards (updated May 27, 2026)