The #1 Reason Real Estate Agents Are Sued
Real Estate Agents are required to take continuing education classes to keep their license active.
At the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors otherwise known as GCAAR, we have an ethics instructor who is a lawyer. Hes acted as general legal counsel for the Maryland Association of Realtors since 1984.
The stories he shares come from real life experiences and they are scary!
Real estate agents get into trouble by failing to disclose material facts.nbsp;If the seller chooses to disclaim instead of disclose, they still need to disclosenbsp;a latent defect.nbsp;nbsp;(thats a fault with the property that couldnt be discovered by a thorough inspection prior to the sale.)nbsp; Listing agents and buyer agents need to be careful how they describe a property. Is the house really in excellent condition? Is the roof/HVAC new? Has the kitchen been updated? These vague descriptions have been the subject of lawsuits filed against real estate agents. Provide dates instead of saying something is new or updated. Dont say excellent condition in a description unless its 100% true and when is that truly accurate? Heres an example: Anbsp;house listed as in excellent condition was purchased by a buyer. The buyer had a home inspection and several items, one major, were discovered by the inspector. The buyer said, How can this home be excellent with all these repair items? So the buyernbsp;asked the listing agent to reimburse him for the cost of the home inspection. The listing agent said no. Many months and thousands of dollars later, the buyer won a lawsuit! All because the listing agent wrote excellent condition as a description of the property.nbsp; Your real estate agent will never say which neighborhood is right for you. Certain details of a neighborhood could violate thenbsp;Fair Housing Actnbsp;which was enacted in 1968 to eliminate housingnbsp;discrimination.nbsp;A real estate agent can and will provide a home buyer with tools and resources so they can make an informed decision regarding neighborhoods.nbsp; Real estate agents should be careful to present a true (honest) picture when advertising. Apparently, this is another common issue when agents get into trouble. All advertisements should disclose the Brokers name and/or company name with the office telephone number. In other words, it should take no longer than 15 seconds for someone to know an agents Brokerage. This includes all correspondence, anything thats mailed, business cards and newsletters.nbsp; Continuing education classes give us (real estate agents, Realtors, Brokers amp; Associate Brokers) the opportunity to check ourselves. Are we acting ethically every day with every client? Are we staying in the scope of our expertise? Are we acting solely in the best interest of our client/principal?nbsp; Heres a link to the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents Code of Ethics. Buyers Edge is an exclusive buyer Brokerage and member of NAEBA. Heres a link to the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics