What Is Anticipatory Breach in Real Estate?
Anticipatory breach is a party’s statement or act before the performance date making clear they will not perform, which lets the injured party pursue remedies at once instead of waiting for the closing date to pass. A seller who relists and accepts another offer mid-contract is the standard example.
How the exam tests anticipatory breach
These mirror the phrasing you will see on test day. Answer them, then read the explanation whether or not you got it right.
A seller tells the buyer three weeks before closing, "I will never convey this property to you under any circumstances." The buyer may treat this as:
Every anticipatory breach question, answered
Every question above with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read the explanations for the ones you answered correctly too. A lucky guess and knowing the rule look identical on a score report. These are sample questions from our larger bank.
1. A seller tells the buyer three weeks before closing, "I will never convey this property to you under any circumstances." The buyer may treat this as:
Why: A clear, unequivocal refusal to perform in advance is anticipatory repudiation, allowing the buyer to sue before the closing date. Treating it as a conditional refusal with no legal effect until closing forces the buyer to wait for a breach the seller has already announced.
2. A contract required the seller to deliver a subdivided parcel, but a change in law made the subdivision legally impossible before closing. The seller's duty is most likely discharged by:
Why: A supervening legal prohibition discharges the duty through impossibility of performance, since no one could lawfully perform. Anticipatory repudiation by the seller would require the seller to refuse to perform a duty that remained possible.
Related exam terms
Anticipatory Breach belongs to the breach of contract family of exam concepts. When it is solid, take the free real estate exam prep or browse the full real estate exam vocabulary.