We hope you enjoyed your holiday! As you return to the office—and with Cyber Monday in full swing—we thought we’d share this article on being safe while shopping online. More tips on reducing risk in your daily real estate practice to come this week!
From all of us at Pearl Insurance, we would like to take a moment to extend our thanks and wishes for a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving to our friends in the real estate profession. Enjoy these many reasons to be thankful in 2009 from REALTORS across the U.S., courtesy of the National Association of REALTORS blog.
Our top reason to be thankful? Our prized relationship with REALTORS like you!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tip 7 of 12 Risk Reduction Techniques for your daily real estate practice
Controlling your Errors & Omissions should be the mission of all real estate professionals. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 12 risk reduction techniques you can use to minimize your legal liability and maximize your earning potential.
Tip 7: Familiarize yourself with fair housing laws.
Become familiar with and educate buyers and sellers about fair housing laws. Avoid using words and phrases in a discriminatory context in conversations and advertising. Never work with a discriminatory seller or buyer, and provide equal service to all.
Stay tuned for more—we have 5 more risk reduction tips to help you in your daily real estate practice! And check out our other blog posts; we have information on risk management training for your agents, using disclosure forms, what to look for in buying an E&O policy, and more. If you have ever encountered problems related to housing discrimination, please share. We’d love to hear from you!
More and more, REALTORS are finding themselves searching for green builders or ways to make an existing property appealing to the growing population of eco-conscious home buyers. Do you know the ins and outs of environmentally friendly homes? Here is a good place for real estate professionals to start.
A resource on green building certification and education, as well as a place to ask questions to environmentally conscious real estate professionals, the U.S. Building Council’s Green Home Guide can help you and your real estate connections understand the basics of building green. This site helps home owners and sellers do everything from choosing earth-friendly paint and countertops to designing a water-saving bathroom and installing energy-efficient insulation.
Brush up on your knowledge of all things green, especially in your day-to-day real estate practice—you will find more and more buyers use this as a qualifier in their house-hunting process!
Sometimes the past is one of the best learning tools around! Use the following Real-Life Errors & Omissions Claim Situation involving discrimination to avoid a similar legal showdown happening to you in your everyday real estate career. And always have a good Real Estate E&O Insurance policy in place to protect you in case you find yourself in the middle of a discrimination suit.
Listing Agent Withholds Purchase Offer from Seller
A piece of property was listed for sale. An agent from another firm presented Mrs. Jones, a prospective buyer, to the listing agent. After viewing the property, Mrs. Jones requested her agent draw up a contract and make an offer on the home. Later that day, the listing agent brought Mr. Smith, another prospective buyer, to view the property and also secured an offer.
Problem
When the listing agent presented the offer to the seller, he did not present Mrs. Jones’ offer. He only presented Mr. Smith’s offer, which was $20,000 less than Mrs. Jones’ offer.
Mistake
The seller claims that she would have seriously considered Mrs. Jones’ offer, but was advised by her agent to accept the other contract, which was the only contract the seller had seen at the time. The listing agent should have presented both offers to the seller, giving the second one as a back-up offer.
Result
Mrs. Jones sued the listing agent for discrimination stating her offer was not presented to the seller because she was a minority. Mrs. Jones was awarded $30,000 in damages. The listing agent also accrued $13,870 in attorney fees.
Prevention
Whether discrimination is intentional or not, civil action can be taken against you. To protect yourself against any charge or appearance of discrimination, be protected by a good Errors & Omissions insurance policy and be familiar with the constitutional and legislative information such as the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988, the Civil Rights Act, and the Equal Opportunity Housing code for REALTORS®.
Do you have a similar story involving discrimination to share with us? Send us your learning experience or just let us know what you think about this one! Just leave a reply below!
If you have any questions about Pearl’s Errors & Omissions Insurance for real estate professionals, give us a call at 800.447.4982—whether you’re looking for a new E&O policy or have questions about your current one. We’d love to hear from you!
You can also visit www.pearlinsurance.com/eo to find out more about our quality Errors & Omissions program, including policy features, risk management tools, and much more.
How does your Errors & Omissions Insurance measure up? It is a good idea to regularly evaluate your E&O coverage so there are no surprises down the road. The worst time to find out your coverage is lacking is after you file a claim! Use this Errors & Omissions Highlights Checklist from Pearl Insurance to compare E&O coverage. We’ve recently enhanced our coverage to include several new policy features—check it out!
