Option agreements for sale or lease of property often have a form of lease or purchase agreement attached, to be entered on exercising the option. The expectation is that, if the option is exercised, the attached contract will be signed by the parties and govern the transaction. Occasionally the option will contain all the terms, and not attach a form contract, and may or may not refer to entering an agreement. Sacramento and ElDorado real estate attorneys advise clients to prepare the Agreement and attach it to the option, otherwise there could be a dispute when the option was exercised. In pone such case, after the option to lease property was exercised, the property owner backed out. His legal argument was that the option was only a contract to enter a contract, and did not affect title to his property. The court said no, in this case, the option was sufficient as a lease.
In John Gavina v. Lon Smith, Plaintiff Gavina granted Defendant an option for an oil and gas lease on Gavina’s property. The option stated all the details of the lease, (set out below), but also had an attached lease form that, on exercise of the option, was to be signed by the parties. Smith exercised the option and deposited the money in escrow. Gavina refused to accept the money from the escrow, did not sign the formal lease form, offered to give Smith the option fee back. Essentially, they told Smith to get lost. The lawsuit resulted.
The judge was not impressed by Gavina’s conduct. Because of the nature of the suit (quiet title), it first addressed the question of whether the option itself created a contract, or was merely an executable contract to make a lease. It found the intent of the parties, as expressed in the option agreement, to set forth in both the option and the attached form of lease all the terms and conditions on which Gavina’s offer to lease was made. By exercising the option, Smith accepted the offer and agreed to the lease on the those terms. The requirement of a written lease was satisfied. (Statute of Frauds) Nothing more was required to make a binding lease.