How deadlines are calculated

Your first transaction covers the short version: set your mutual execution of contract (MEC) date and Done-Deal builds the deadline calendar. This article covers the actual rules behind that calendar — the anchor date, how calendar days and business days are counted, and every deadline type Done-Deal calculates.

The anchor date

Every deadline is calculated from one anchor date, in local (Denver) time:

• MEC date is the anchor for almost every deadline — the day the contract was mutually executed.
• Closing date is the anchor for a handful of pre-closing and post-closing deadlines, counted backward or forward from close.
• Time From Contract (TFC) date is the anchor instead of MEC, but only for backup offers. If a transaction is marked as a backup offer and no TFC date has been entered yet, Done-Deal still calculates deadlines from MEC as a placeholder and flags every one of them: "BACKUP OFFER: tfc_date not set — deadline calculated from MEC and may be INCORRECT." Enter the TFC date as soon as the primary contract fails so the calendar becomes accurate.

Warning: Until a transaction has an MEC date (or a TFC date, for backup offers), no deadline calendar exists. Double-check the date you enter — see Your first transaction for why this matters.

Calendar days vs. business days

Done-Deal counts days two different ways, matching the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell (CBS) standard form rules:

• Business days skip only Saturday and Sunday. Federal holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and so on) are not skipped — a business-day deadline can land on a federal holiday. This matches the CBS standard form definition of a business day, which Done-Deal follows exactly.
• Calendar days count every day, including weekends. If the resulting date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, Done-Deal automatically extends it to the following Monday. This "weekend extension" rule applies to every calendar-day deadline below; business-day deadlines never need it, because counting business days always lands on a weekday.

Note: Done-Deal does not currently extend a deadline that lands on a federal holiday, for either calendar-day or business-day deadlines. If a deadline falls on a holiday when your title company, lender, or the courts are closed, treat the prior business day as your practical working deadline.

Every deadline Done-Deal tracks

The deadline engine produces up to 31 deadlines per transaction, depending on the property and contract. Deadlines marked "HOA only" or "pre-1978 only" are added just for transactions with that characteristic — see How compliance checks work for the full trigger logic.

From MEC — calendar days (weekend-extended)

Deadline	Default offset from MEC
Earnest Money Delivery	3 days
New Loan Application	3 days
CIC (HOA) Documents — HOA only	7 days
Title Commitment Deadline	14 days
Inspection Objection	10 days
Inspection Resolution	13 days
Record Title Deadline	14 days
Record Title Objection Deadline	21 days
Record Title Resolution Deadline	25 days
Survey/ILC Deadline	14 days
Due Diligence Documents Delivery	7 days
Appraisal Deadline	18 days
Appraisal Objection Deadline	21 days
Appraisal Resolution Deadline	24 days
Loan Termination	21 days
Property Insurance Termination	21 days
Association Documents Termination — HOA only	14 days
Acceptance Deadline	only added if your contract specifies one

From MEC — business days

Deadline	Offset from MEC
SPD (Seller's Property Disclosure)	5 business days
Lead Paint Disclosure — pre-1978 only	5 business days

Back-calculated from closing — before close

Deadline	Offset from closing
Closing Disclosure Delivery (TRID)	3 business days before close (federal requirement — see note below)
Mail-out Notice to Title	14 calendar days before close
CDA (Commission Disbursement Auth)	5 calendar days before close
Wire Fraud Warning to Buyer	5 calendar days before close
Final Docs Verified	3 calendar days before close
Final Walkthrough	1 calendar day before close
Confirm Closing Time	1 calendar day before close

From closing — after close

Deadline	Offset from closing
Update MLS/CTM to Sold	1 business day after close
Docs to your brokerage's document intake (post-close)	1 business day after close

Note: Closing Disclosure Delivery is a federal TRID/TILA-RESPA requirement, not a Colorado-specific one — it applies to any residential transaction with a mortgage. If it isn't delivered on time, closing has to be postponed.

Brokerage-specific deadlines

If your brokerage submits documents to a shared intake address, Done-Deal also tracks the brokerage's own compliance deadlines, calculated the same way as everything else:

• Executed Contracts to your brokerage's document intake — 5 business days after MEC.
• Transaction Contact Sheet — 5 business days after MEC.

These are configured for your brokerage today, not something you set per-transaction.

Contract-specified dates override the defaults

The offsets above are Done-Deal's defaults. Several deadlines — Earnest Money, New Loan Application, Inspection Objection, Inspection Resolution, Title, Title Objection, Title Resolution, Survey, Due Diligence, Appraisal, Appraisal Objection, Appraisal Resolution, Loan Termination, and Property Insurance Termination — can instead use the exact date your contract negotiated (an "Alternative Deadline" in CBS terms). When that date is present on the contract, Done-Deal uses it directly instead of calculating an offset, and the deadline's notes say so.

Recalculating the calendar

If you change the MEC date or closing date — for example, after a counteroffer or an amendment — Done-Deal recalculates the entire deadline calendar from the new anchor dates. Existing pending deadlines are replaced, not just adjusted.

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FAQ

What happens if a deadline lands on a Saturday?

Calendar-day deadlines automatically move to the following Monday. Business day deadlines can never land on a weekend in the first place, since Saturday and Sunday aren't counted.

Does Done-Deal skip federal holidays when counting business days?

No. Only Saturday and Sunday are skipped, per the CBS standard form definition of a business day. A business-day deadline can land on a holiday when your title company or lender's office is closed — plan around that manually.

My contract negotiated a different deadline than Done-Deal shows. What do I do?

For deadlines that support a contract-specified override (see the list above), enter the negotiated date on the contract and Done-Deal will use it instead of the default offset. If a deadline type doesn't support an override, adjust it manually on the transaction.

Why are my deadlines wrong on a backup offer?

Backup offers are anchored to the Time From Contract (TFC) date, not MEC. Until you enter the TFC date, Done-Deal calculates from MEC as a placeholder and flags every deadline as potentially incorrect. Enter the TFC date as soon as it's known.