Top Ten Hotlines October 2021
10. Capital Gains tax issues
9. Broker versus Broker disputes
8. Closing issues
7. HOA issues
6. Hire legal counsel recommendation to pursue enforceable legal remedies (money) to legal disputes unresolved by self settlement or mediator assisted self settlement
REALTORS® sometimes get upset when the hotline recommends the parties obtain legal counsel. Sometimes, members unrealistically expect the hotline to rule and enforce a contract and make one side pay a lot of money to the other side. The hotline does not have that power.
Recommending the parties obtain legal counsel is not an avoidance by the hotline. This is a real world requirement. The parties in a legal dispute need their own legal counsel.
The hotline is designed to provide REALTOR® risk management strategies when you call about how to handle an issue before there is a legal dispute (e.g., you call about a deal where you listed a property but the amount of acreage is not known definitively, so the hotline recommends that you need to use the SCR391 addendum with the language about a survey as part of your counter offer).
The hotline is not able to resolve legal disputes once they arise (e.g., the member did not call the hotline and listed the property and allowed their seller client to sign the SCR310 without attaching the SCR391…since the SCR391 addendum on surveys was not used and now the buyer wants a price reduction when the survey showed the land was smaller than advertised and disclosed by the seller but the seller does not want to give a price reduction. At this point, the parties must be told to hire legal counsel and pursue legal remedies against each other. A judge might rule the contract says the buyer must buy or pay breach of contract damages or the judge might rule that the seller’s misrepresentation of the land is a breach of the contract).
Also, NAR ethics article 13 requires REALTORS® to recommend the parties obtain legal counsel when their interest requires legal counsel.
SCR hotline offers mediation and mediator lists (e.g., self settlement).
The parties and their lawyers may pursue legal remedies such as settlement, litigation, or other.
The hotline cannot render judgment solely based on a phone call or email with one side of the story. There is almost always another side to the story and additional facts. Also, disputing parties are not going to get along simply because the hotline says one side is right and the other side is wrong. So, the hotline answer includes language to the effect: "Solely based on your information and subject to change with additional information."
The parties need legal counsel to perhaps obtain a court order after the judge hears all the stories and all the evidence and then one party is ordered to pay damages and attorneys fees to the other side of the litigation.
Judges can enforce their orders. Even judges can be appealed.
5. Disclosure issues
4. Ethics issues
3. License law
2. State law
1. Forms
(Related to the #1 hotline on forms… Anticipate possible updates to SCR residential contract – due diligence in the spring of 2022)(e.g., paid upfront due diligence termination fee with return in certain contractual circumstances, due diligence only)
#476 hotlines.
Posted by: Byron King on 11/22/21 (This information is only accurate as of 11/22/21. You must contact SCR for updates and changes to this information after 11/22/21 as laws and regulations may change over time. SCR 803-772-5206 or email info at screaltors.org or email byron at screaltors.org)
This information is not legal advice. This information is intended only to provide general information and may not be relied upon as specific legal guidance. Legal counsel should always be consulted before acting in reliance on this information.