A ‘Standard Contract’ Doesn’t Exist

There is no such thing as a standard contract.

That may not be entirely true--it is a bit exaggerated--but it’s worth saying, just to get a basic point across: All contracts are open to negotiation.

So, when someone asks you to sign a written agreement, whether it is used for the purchase and financing of a new car or to rent an apartment, don’t blithely sign it without reading it simply because someone tells you it is a “standard” or “boilerplate” contract.

Certainly, there are form agreements. You can walk into almost any stationary store and find any number of them, from promissory notes to commercial leases. And many industry associations have developed form contracts for particular purposes.

For example, the American Institute of Architects has a form agreement between a property owner and the contractor who is going to build a structure on the property. And many apartment owner associations have standardized agreements for their members to use with tenants. Even health club associations have form contracts.

Some of the provisions in form contracts are required by specific laws. There are a whole batch of provisions required in contracts for the sale of residential property. Health club agreements are regulated by state statute and must contain specific terms and warnings. In certain consumer contracts, state law even provides how large the type should be.

But that doesn’t mean that standard or form contracts are inviolable. Just because they appear on a printed form doesn’t mean they can’t be amended, revised or even thrown away and rewritten from scratch. After all, they are drafted by lawyers, and lawyers are in the business of negotiating and revising contracts to suit client objectives.

Remember, form agreements are usually drafted by lawyers with a particular purpose in mind. A form rental lease agreement drafted by a lawyer for an apartment owners’ group would look mighty different from one prepared by a lawyer for a tenants’ rights group. They both would probably be perfectly legal, but they would be biased in favor of one side over the other. So, if you are signing a form agreement, you should try to find out who commissioned it in the first place, and which side they were on.

And if you don’t like the form agreement, you should try to change it. If the other party agrees, just scratch out the objectionable language and write it your way. Then each of you should initial the change. If there isn’t space on the document, write the language you want on an attached piece of paper and say so on the printed form.

But, whatever you do, even if you don’t make changes, be sure to read the entire document, even if a salesperson keeps whispering in your ear: “Don’t worry. It’s all standard. Go ahead and sign.”