What is a contract rider?
Learn more about the purpose of a contract rider, and how riders can affect your business or other legal contracts.
What is a rider in a contract?
Rider is a legal term referring to the additions made to an existing contract. It is tacked on to, or “rides,” the original agreement — that’s how it got its name.
The purpose of a rider is to modify, clarify, or add more information to the initial contract after it has already been signed by the legal parties involved. These modifications or additions, when accomplished by means of a rider, save everyone the time and expense of having to rewrite a new contract from scratch.
Riders differ from addendums and are typically used in a wide variety of businesses, ranging from real estate and life insurance to performance art and more. Depending on the situation, some simple riders can easily be written by the parties involved. In other more complex cases, however, it may be advisable to have an attorney prepare your rider.
What is a rider in real estate?
Contract riders in real estate are documents that explicitly outline the contents of a given contract. The rider definition, in this context, could look like an extension of a Purchase and Sale Agreement. These are often done to expand on a given agreement, using language that all parties privy to the agreement or document will understand.
Contract riders can be tools to help people avoid litigation and confusion at any point in their real estate experience.
What is a rider in government?
Similar to a contract rider in other contexts, a contract rider in government is any sort of document that expands on a given bill or amendment. However, a rider used in this setting may or may not be relevant to the topic of the given bill. Instead, it can be used to reference related or unrelated provisions that align with the needs or wants of a specific governmental party.
A popular example of this is the net neutrality bill, which was supplemented and submitted with a rider related to military aid.
How can a rider affect my business agreement?
Just like your original contract, a rider is a legally binding agreement. Because riders are typically introduced after the original contract is signed, all parties will need to review and approve the changes. This may involve a period of negotiations before everyone can agree.
Within the document, the rider will reference the original contract that it is modifying. Then, once the new language is agreed on, everyone will sign the contract once more under the specified rider section.
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