Legal stuff
Legal Hotline FAQs: Unusual Disclosure Scenarios
VAR's Blake Hegeman walks you through some unusual scenarios, such as:
- out of state referral fees
- out of state agents listing property in Virginia
- "material adverse facts"
Legal Hotline FAQs: Anti-Trust
VAR's Blake Hegeman walks you through the ins and outs of anti-trust law. This is an important issue for REALTORS® especially - there have been many recent crackdowns on the real estate industry. Make sure you know:
- All about avoiding price fixing
- Avoiding discussions about individual firm policies and commission rates
- Common "boycotting" scenarios and how to avoid becoming entagled in them
Legal Hotline FAQs: New Agency Disclosure Form Requirements
VAR, in collaboration with forms providers from around the state, has created new forms to help you comply with changes to agency law. These forms are concise and user-friendly and are the product of an effort to reduce the number of new agency disclosure forms. All of the major forms providers had input in their creation and you are likely to see similar disclosure forms throughout the state.
Legal Hotline FAQs: Dual Agency
VAR's Blake Hegeman walks you through some important changes to Virginia's agency law as it affects dual agency practices. These changes took effect in 2012 and are reflected in VAR's updated standard forms.
Legal Hotline FAQs: Representing the Seller
VAR's Blake Hegeman walks you through the duties you have to a seller, not just as an agent but as a FIRM. Blake talks about
- Open houses
- Dual and designated agency
- Representing sellers
Legal Hotline FAQs: Residential Property Disclosure Statement & Summary of Rights and Obligations Form
VAR's Blake Hegeman answers your questions about the Residential Property Disclosure Act requirements, including:
- WHEN you must provide the disclosure to a buyer,
- WHY this disclosure is required, and
- WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE between the Residential Property Disclosure and the Summary of Rights and Obligations forms.
Tune in today!
Scam Alert: Realtor-Complaints.com
VAR's Blake Hegeman wants you to know: you should disregard any e-mail notifications from a scam website called Realtor-Complaints.com. This site is specifically designed to solicit payment from Realtors® to remove false complaints. NAR is vigorously pursuing the proprietors of this website to eliminate its funding as well as to eliminate the apparent REALTOR® trademark infringements. Thank you for alerting us to this scam. As Blake says, "Good luck out there!"
Says NAR:
Legal Hotline FAQs: Online etiquette and the law
VAR Legal Counsel Blake Hegeman walks you through a few common online etiquette scenarios that could get you or your agents in hot water. In this episode, Blake will cover:
- what constitutes defamation
- the Duty of Confidentiality
- how to avoid becoming part of an online antitrust conspiracy
Legal Hotline FAQs: Broker competency
VAR Legal Counsel Blake Hegeman outlines a broker's responsibilities under the REALTOR® Code of Ethics Article 11. With a changing market, a broker remains obligated to provide service and guidance to customers only in the areas in which they can do so competently. Do you know everything you should about the following areas before offering service and guidance?
- Property management
- Commercial transactions
- Short sales