The use of unlicensed assistants and other clerical personnel in the real estate industry is a growing trend, and explain. why the North Carolina Real Estate Com mission receives so many inquiries from brokers asking what their unlicensed office employees may and may not do.
To provide guidance to brokers, the Commission has prepared the following list of acts an unlicensed person may perform Licensees should be advised that additional facts in any of these scenarios could change the result.
A broker's unlicensed, salaried employee MAY:
1. Receive and forward phone calls to his or her employing broker another licensee in the firm.
2. Submit listings and changes to a multiple listing service, but only if the listings or changes are based upon data compiled and provided by a licensed broker or salesman.
3. Assist a broker or salesman in assembling documents for closing.
4. Secure copies of public records from the register of deeds, clerk of court, or tax office.
5. Have keys made for the firm's listings.
6. Record and deposit earnest money, security deposits, and other trust monies under the close supervision of the office broker-in-charge.
7. Type offers, contracts, and leases from drafts prepared by a broker or salesman with the firm.
8. Check license renewal and personnel files for the brokers and salesmen with the firm.
9. Compute commission checks and act as bookkeeper for the firm's operating bank accounts.
10. Place "for sale" or "for rent" signs on property at the direction of a broker or salesman with the firm.
11. Order and supervise routine ant minor repairs at the direction of: broker or salesman with the firm
12. Act as a courier to deliver or pick up documents, keys, etc.
13. Make routine phone calls to coordinate or confirm appointment. between brokers, salesmen, ant other persons.
14. Schedule appointments for showing property for sale or lease.
15. Show rental properties managed b~ the firm to prospective tenants.
16. Complete and execute preprinted form leases for rental proper", managed by the firm
An unlicensed employee MAY NOT:
1. Show properties for sale to prospective purchasers.
2. Solicit listings or management contracts from prospective clients.
3. Answer questions concerning properties listed with the firm, except to confirm that the property is listed, to identify the listing broker or salesman, and to provide such information as would normally appear in a simple, classified news" paper advertisement (e.g., location, price, number of rooms).
4. Prepare promotional material or advertising of properties for sale or lease without the office broker-in-charge's review and approval.
5. Discuss or explain listings, management agreements, offers, contracts, or other similar matters with persons outside the firm.
6. Negotiate the amount of rent, security deposit or other lease provisions in connection with rental properties managed by the firm.
Brokers are cautioned to carefully super vise their unlicensed employees. The Real Estate License Law makes it unlawful for persons not licensed as brokers or salesmen to perform any act for which licensure is required or to hold themselves out to be licensed. Under G.S. 93A-6(a)(9), the Real Estate Commission may take disciplinary action against brokers when their unlicensed employees perform any acts or services in violation of the License Law.
Brokers-in-charge who employ unlicensed bookkeepers to assist in handling trust monies should have such persons bonded and should establish and follow strict accounting controls. Commission Rules A.0107 and .0110 make the broker-in-charge responsible for the firm's trust accounts. The broker-in-charge may delegate to others some of the work, but none of the responsibility, of trust account bookkeeping.
Likewise, the License Law allows brokers in the rental property management business to employ unlicensed persons as leasing agents. The law makes the broker strictly accountable for such employees, however, and the Real Estate Commission may discipline a broker for the misconduct of an unlicensed employee in a rental transaction.
This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but addresses many of the situations faced by real estate brokers, salesmen, and their unlicensed co-workers in daily practice.
This article was adapted for North Carolina licensees from a similar article, "Commission Position on Activities of Unlicensed Assistants," which appeared in Vol. 126 of the Missouri Real Estate Commission Newsletter, October, 1991