It's the Rule - July 2006

by: President & CEO Terese (Terry) Penza, CAE, RCE, e-Pro

I'm sorry. I did a poor job of explaining my last article on the obituary - I was being facetious. Dual agency is NOT DEAD. My article was trying to explain the dangers of an agent putting their desire to receive a full commission over the fiduciary responsibility of selling the house as quick as possible for the best price possible. I regret that I did not make that clearer. Do I think dual agency could die if it is abused? Absolutely!

Now, on a new note:

The Rules and Regulations of the License act includes a newer provision entitled Unprofessional Conduct (DISCIPLINE RULES AND PROCEDURES Section 1450.220). The following is directly from those policies:
OBRE may suspend, revoke, or take other disciplinary action based upon its finding that the licensee or applicant has engaged in dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public. The following descriptions are illustrative of the types of conduct that would constitute "dishonorable, unethical, or unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public."

a) Failure to act in the best interests of a client.
b) Deliberately misleading a client as to the market value of the property.
c) Failing to advertise the property as obligated by the listing agreement.
d) Deliberately misrepresenting to prospective purchasers or their agents the condition of the property or the availability of access to show the property.
e) Purchasing or transferring of the property through an intermediary in order to conceal the purchase by the licensee.
f) Inducing a seller to list the property through false representations.
g) Inducing a seller through false representations or false promises to transfer the property to the licensee.
h) Taking unfair advantage of a client's or customer's age, disability, or lack of understanding of the English language.
i) Engaging in conduct with the public or other real estate licensees in the practice of real estate in a manner that is abusive, harassing, or lewd.
j) Representing oneself as a sponsoring broker or managing broker without providing the actual supervision and management of the real estate business.
k) Failing to reasonably safeguard confidential information or improperly using confidential information.
l) Obstructing an inspection, audit, investigation, examination, or a disciplinary proceeding.
m) Any violation of Section 1450.175, Special Accounts, shall be deemed unprofessional conduct.
n) Assisting or inducing a licensee to violate the Act or this Part.
Thank you!

On May 31, one day past my 20th anniversary with the NSBAR the staff, directors and members surprised me with a celebration! I want to thank all of you for the best 20 years anyone could ask for and I look forward to many more years of working together. It has been an honor!

CFA blasts the real estate industry
Whether you agree with the Consumer Federation of America or not, each member should take the time to read "How the real estate cartel harms consumers and how consumers can protect themselves" http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/Real_Estate_Cartel_Study061906.pdf.

Assisted Down payments
The Internal Revenue Service has questioned the validity of companies stating they are offering assisted down payments as a charitable event. BEFORE you participate in these offerings, check with the irs.gov page to assure they fall in the correct category. Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2006-21, Rev. Rule, 2006-27 will guide you.

Do you know where your listings are?
The following is a quote from Inman News from June 7, 2006 "The Palm Beach Post has about 17,000 local property listings for sale in its database, said Dan Shorter, a representative with the newspaper. Part of the newspaper's strategy for remaining a vital source of real estate classifieds information has been to build one of the deepest and broadest databases of property listings, he said." "To make sure we had the largest database of local listings, a few years ago we started digitizing every display ad we had," Shorter said. "That gives us thousands of listings we otherwise wouldn't have for people to click on."
Sure, you want maximum exposure to your listing but will you loose control?