Federal Legal Issues That Impact Transactions

By Guest Blogger and 2002 Arizona REALTORS® President Marge Lindsay, CRB, CRS, GRI, rCRMS

Although we don’t talk about federal issues like antitrust, fair housing and RESPA very often, these areas are worthy of our attention. Consider the following hypothetical situations.

Scenario 1: I was playing cards one night with two of my closest friends. We are all licensed REALTORS® at three different firms. Part of our casual conversation led us to discuss the different commission structures and compensation packages at our separate companies. We compared what each of us charged our clients and found some similarities whicht made us realize — we all charge about the same. How nice to know we aren’t competing in all areas of our business.

Did you recognize this as an Antitrust issue?

Scenario 2: I want to rent a specific apartment, but the landlord refuses because my service animal is a Pit Bull. Doesn’t he have to let me rent because this is a certified service animal?

Do you know the answer to this Fair Housing issue?

Scenario 3: My title company is wonderful. They still provide lots of free stuff; pamphlets, brochures, flyers, listing kits and more. The rumor on the street was that none of this could ever be done again.

Is this a RESPA issue, why or why not?

The Arizona REALTORS® rCRMS Federal Legal Issues course covers many of today’s challenges and concerns, such as those mentioned above. If you missed this class in Phoenix, Flagstaff or Tucson earlier this year, you’ve got two more opportunities in 2016: November 17 in Mesa or December 1 in Scottsdale.

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