Real Estate Force Majeure Clause In Illinois
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The force majeure clause is a contract provision that relieves involved parties from performing their contract obligations if extreme circumstances or “major unforeseen events” outside of their control arise that would make performing these obligations impossible, inadvisable, or dangerous.
Sample Language 3 The Parties hereby acknowledge that while current events related to the current epidemic/pandemic are known, future impacts of the outbreak are unforeseeable and shall be considered a Force Majeure event to the extent that they prevent the performance of a Party's obligations under this Agreement.
What is a Force Majeure Clause? A force majeure (pronounced “forss ma-zhoor”) clause is a provision in a contract that allows one or both parties to excuse (or sometimes delay) their performance obligations if circumstances beyond their control arise. These circumstances are typically called “force majeure events.”
Force majeure is a contract law concept in Illinois. A force majeure clause is a contract provision that excuses a party's performance of its obligations under the contract when certain usually express circumstances arise beyond the party's control.
The major difference in such cases is that, without a force majeure clause, the party that wants to be released from contract obligations has the burden of proof, which means that this party must prove their argument is correct. If the other contracting parties do not agree, this could lead to litigation.
If a contract is silent on force majeure or if the event does not meet the definition of force majeure under the parties' contract, a party's performance may still be excused in certain circumstances under the doctrine of commercial impracticability.
In real estate, force majeure refers to a contractual clause that allows parties to suspend or terminate their obligations when certain events beyond their control occur, making performance inadvisable, commercially impracticable, illegal, or impossible.
Because the concept is foreign, lawyers who review or draft contracts governed by U.S. law should start with the assumptions that 1) principles of force majeure will not be implied in a contract that does not expressly provide for them, and 2) U.S. courts will interpret and apply force majeure provisions narrowly.
For events to constitute the use of force majeure, they must be unforeseeable, external to contract parties, and unavoidable. Force majeure means “greater force” and is related to an act of God, an event for which no party can be held accountable.
Sample Language 3 The Parties hereby acknowledge that while current events related to the current epidemic/pandemic are known, future impacts of the outbreak are unforeseeable and shall be considered a Force Majeure event to the extent that they prevent the performance of a Party's obligations under this Agreement.