FOR BROKERS: Legal Risks

BY ROBERT FREEDMAN

Staying a step ahead

Did you dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s in the paperwork for that last administrative support staffer you hired? Are your newest rookie sales associates meeting their fiduciary duties to their clients?

To help you stay one step ahead of your legal risks, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has updated, relaunched, and renamed its 1995 legal guide for brokers (formerly Don’t Risk It!). Real Estate Brokerage Essentials: Managing Legal and Business Issues includes a new chapter on federal do-not-call, do-not-e-mail, and do-not-fax laws. It also includes revised chapters on workplace procedures and office policies, independent contractors, personal assistants, broker agency relationships, antitrust risk, fair housing, property condition disclosures, technology matters, insurance, and complaint procedures.

“This book was developed to assist brokers in reducing their liability and in managing business issues,” NAR legal analysts write in the book’s preface. “The ability to recognize and deal with situations that most frequently result in litigation is the broker’s best insurance for effective risk management.”

The book includes training modules on selected topics so that brokers can also school their sales associates and other staff in minimizing their liability. The book’s appendices include sample forms, policies, and agreements.

Real Estate Brokerage Essentials is available for sale through the Real Estate Bookshelf (Item #126-358; $49.95 for members) at REALTOR.org/store.