On a sad note, we will have to say goodbye to one of MAR’s legal eagles this month, Ashley Stolba, as she moves on to bigger and better things working for Massport. We wish her all the best and will miss her greatly in the Berkshires. Now on to the agency Q&A…
Q: I have heard rumors that the Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure is being updated. Is this true?
Yes. It’s hard to believe that it has been over ten years since the current Massachusetts Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure (formerly known as the Agency Disclosure Form) was put into place. Since July 1, 2005, all Massachusetts brokers and salespeople have been required by law to provide the form to consumers at the first personal meeting between a buyer or a seller and a real estate professional to discuss a specific property. Over this time, several deficiencies in the form have been identified. To help address some of these deficiencies, the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons established an Agency Disclosure Form Working Group at their meeting on April14, 2016. The Working Group is comprised of broker-owners, agents, managers, instructors, and attorneys. The Working Group hopes to present their recommendations to the Board of Registration by 2017. If any changes to this form are made, an advisory will be published to the membership right away. Please be sure to check www.marealtor.com for updates.
Q: On the current form, what do I do if I represent a seller as a designated agent, and a customer calls me to see my listing? I do not plan on representing the customer at the time of the showing. I want to be sure that I disclose to the customer that I represent the seller, and do not represent the customer as an agent or a facilitator.
A: This is certainly one of the deficiencies in the current form, and will be resolved in any new form. For now, the form must be amended to properly disclose your relationship with the seller. For now, this is the only time that it is acceptable to amend the disclosure form. If you want to show your listing to a customer, you should do the following: check the box that says “seller’s agent;” check the second box for designated agency; strike the words after “represents” and insert the word “SELLER.” The form should appear like this:
RELATIONSHIP OF REAL ESTATE LICENSEE WITH THE CONSUMER
(check one) _√__Seller’s agent ___Buyer’s agent ___Facilitator
IF A SELLER’S OR BUYER’S AGENT IS CHECKED ABOVE COMPLETE THE SECTION BELOW:
Relationship with others affiliated with _______Hotline Realty, Inc. ____#8003705342_____
(Print name of real estate firm or business and license number)
(Check one) ____The real estate agent listed below, the real estate firm or business listed above and other affiliated agents have the same relationship with the consumer named herein (seller or buyer agency, not designated agency).
__√__Only the real estate agent listed below represents SELLER. the consumer named in this form (designated seller or buyer agency). In this situation any firm or business listed above and other agents affiliated with the firm or business do not represent you and may represent another party in your real estate transaction.