by
Harry H. Harkins, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General and Legal Counsel
Over the past six years, I have handled thousands of complaints against real estate agents in North Carolina. Hundreds of these complaints resulted in some action by the Real Estate Commission, and I have prosecuted far too many cases resulting in license suspensions or revocations.
Seeing the dark side of so many complaints and questionable transactions, one might think I have a negative impression of the real estate industry in this state. I really don't. To the contrary, I am impressed with the number of licensees who are sincerely interested in representing buyers and sellers in a trustworthy and competent manner.
Much work needs to be done, however, before the public perceives real estate agents as professionals. Your industry deserves the status of a profession, but has not attained it. Although most real estate agents are competent and honest, an alarming number are not doing their jobs properly. The sheer volume of complaints received by the Commission reflects an unacceptable level of consumer dissatisfaction.
Licensees get into trouble for two basic reasons: dishonesty and incompetence. The Commission will always act swiftly to protect the public from the former; those who abuse their license through misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and mishandling of trust funds. The second category is more difficult. Many agents honestly mean well, but injure their clients through errors, lack of attention to detail and sheer ignorance of changing trends in real estate. The Commission must protect the public from incompetent agents as well as dishonest ones.