Agents and principals have relied upon “nonbinding letters of intent,” assuming that the negotiations that lead to a “definitive and enforceable agreement” will bind the parties. Don’t count on it. No, this isn’t the “Twilight Zone” or Orwellian; there are real cases out there on this! Put otherwise, although language such as “nonbinding” and “unenforceable” may be in these so-called “letters of intent,” Courts have ignored those words and permit the parties to enforce “nonbinding and unenforceable letters of intent” as enforceable contracts reasoning that it is possible that one party may have thought that (despite wording otherwise) an enforceable contract or lease has been reached. While these cases that we have seen are typically filed by a purchaser or a tenant, there is no reason why the Courts would not give a seller or a landlord the same rights. NOTE: There are workarounds for this for agents and principals to protect each other but only if it is expressly written to bypass the judicial system’s interest to find, anyway possible, to enforce a nonbinding and unenforceable letter of intent. Call Weiss LLP for more information on this and how to protect your company and client.