A client asked us:

My understanding is that I can cancel the agreement within 3 days after receiving the association disclosure packet. Or does this 3 days begin if and when I sign a ratified contract?

Here is the answer we got from the legal counsel of the Virginia Association of Realtors:

The Act is explicit: "The purchaser may cancel the contract (i) within three days after the date of the contract, if on or before the date that the purchaser signs the contract, the purchaser receives the association disclosure packet ...." (Section 55-511C)

Full ratification starts the clock ticking.

The point of the Act in this regard is exactly this kind of situation: Where the packet is given with no deal attached, before there's even a contract. So no matter when the packet is given, if it's given before contract, the purchaser has three days after contract.