California Partition Law Blog
A right of first refusal – sometimes called a “preemptive right” – is a right provided by contract that gives a party priority to purchase a property if the owner decides to sell. This right may be included in an ownership agreement between two co-owners who are cotenants. The person who holds the right is the “grantee,” and the person who gives the right to a fellow co-owner is the “grantor.”
A right of first refusal gives the cotenant priority over other potential buyers when the other cotenant makes a decision to sell their interest in the property. Unlike a valid option provision where a cotenant is obligated to sell the property to the other cotenant subject to the terms of the ownership agreement, under a right of first refusal, a second cotenant’s ability to purchase the first cotenant’s interest depends on the first cotenant’s desire to sell it. The right of first refusal becomes an option when the owner “voluntarily decides to sell the property and receives a bona fide offer to purchase it from a third party.” (Campbell v. Alger (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 200, 206-207.)
What types of instruments contain a right of first refusal?
A right of first refusal is, essentially, an option contract. It is a contract or a condition in a contract between the owner of an asset, and some other person with an interest in that same asset, that allows the interested person to buy the asset from the owner instead of allowing the owner to sell it to a third party. Put differently, it’s a conditional right to acquire property, depending on the owner’s willingness to sell. (Campbell v. Alger (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 200, 206.)