Short answer. Usually yes. Even where you were given a period to decide, the Civil Code lets the offeror withdraw at any time before acceptance by communicating the withdrawal. The exception is where the option is founded on a consideration — something you paid or promised for it.

What the law says

When the offerer has allowed the offeree a certain period to accept, the offer may be withdrawn at any time before acceptance by communicating such withdrawal, except when the option is founded upon a consideration, as something paid or promised.

Civil Code, Article 1324 — Withdrawal of Offer; Option Contracts. Read the full provision →

A deadline to decide is not a promise to wait

This surprises most people, and it is the heart of Article 1324: when the offerer has allowed the offeree a certain period to accept, the offer may be withdrawn at any time before acceptance by communicating such withdrawal. "This offer is good until the 30th" tells you when the offer dies if you do nothing. It does not oblige the offeror to keep it alive until then. Until you accept, there is no contract, and a person is generally free to change his mind about a proposal that binds nobody. A better price from someone else, a change of plans, second thoughts — any of these can end the offer.

The withdrawal must reach you

The article requires the offeror to withdraw by communicating such withdrawal. A decision taken privately, a note in his own file, or an instruction to staff that never leaves the office does not undo the offer. This creates the classic race: if your acceptance is effective before his withdrawal reaches you, the contract is perfected and he is bound; if his withdrawal lands first, there is nothing left to accept. That is why the timing of emails, courier receipts and message read-stamps matters so much in these disputes, and why an acceptance should be sent in a form that leaves a record of the moment it was sent and received.

The exception: an option supported by consideration

The way to make the deadline real is to pay for it. Article 1324 excepts the case when the option is founded upon a consideration, as something paid or promised. An option money, a promise of something of value, a separate concession given in exchange for the promise to hold the offer open — any of these turns the period into a contract of its own. The option is then a distinct agreement, separate from the sale or lease it looks toward, and the offeror who withdraws in breach of it answers for that breach. Note what an option is not: it does not by itself transfer the property, and letting the option period lapse ends the right.

How to protect yourself before you decide

If the decision needs time — arranging financing, inspecting a property, getting board approval — do not rely on a stated deadline alone. Ask for an option in writing, state the amount paid or promised for it, fix the period, and say what happens to the option money if you go ahead. Where paying is not possible, shorten your own timetable and accept in writing as soon as you are able. If an offer you were counting on has just been pulled, keep every message in its original form and note the exact times; whether anything was paid or promised for the waiting period is the question counsel will ask first, and it usually decides the matter.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.