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Bad-Check Scam

Beware of a bad-check scam still circulating in NC. An out-of-country buyer makes an offer on a property sight unseen with a large “certified” earnest money check for deposit in an attorney’s trust account The buyer then rescinds the offer, hoping for a refund of the deposit before the check bounces. Or, the buyer overpays the earnest money, and asks for a refund of the difference. Too often, the broker and attorney discover too late that the funds were no good in the first place.

Rule Changes

For current proposed rule additions, changes, or deletions, click here

Residential Property Disclosure Form Revised

As mandated by recent legislation, the Real Estate Commission has revised the Residential Property Disclosure Statement to include disclosures about property owners’ associations. The new form is available now and its use will be required on January 1, 2012. Now four pages in length and titled “Residential Property and Owners’ Association Disclosure Statement,” the form sets out the required disclosures intended for use when a property is governed by an owners’ association. In addition, the form clarifies the instructions so that users will better understand that disclosure requirements apply to sellers of condominiums, townhouses, and similar residences in the same way it applies to sellers of single-family detached residences.

Sellers required to provide a disclosure form under the current law will be required to provide prospective buyers with the new form on January 1, 2012. Real estate brokers working with buyers and sellers during this transition period should prepare their clients for the change in forms. The form may be downloaded by clicking here.

Update Course, BICAR Topics Now Online

Selected topics from the Commission’s Update and Broker-in-Charge Annual Review Courses from 2005-2006 to 2010-2011 are now available online. More content will be added in the future. Organized by topic, the content can be reviewed on the new Update Course/BICAR page by clicking here. To search for specific information within the topics, use Google on the Web site Search page. The text is the same as that provided in the courses and, in digital form, provides a fast, convenient reference source.

Schweidler, Little and Fisher Scholarships

Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan, on behalf of the Commission, presented plaques to Victor M. Chen (Creedmoor) as recipient of the Joe Schweidler Memorial Scholarship, Anne K. Flater (High Point) as recipient of the Blanton Little Memorial Scholarship and Cindy L. Hope (Charlotte) as recipient of the Phillip T. Fisher Scholarship. These scholarships are presented by the Real Estate Commission annually to individuals selected by the North Carolina Real Estate Educational Foundation for his or her outstanding scholastic achievement in the North Carolina REALTORS® Institute program during the previous calendar year. Mrs. Jordan and the Commission congratulated the recipients on their outstanding academic achievement in either the GRI or CRS course.

Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan and Victor Chen, recipient of the Joe Schweidler Memorial Scholarship		Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan and Anne Flater, recipient of the Blanton Little Memorial Scholarship

Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan, former Executive Director Phillip T. Fisher, and Cindy Hope, recipient of the Phillip T. Fisher Scholarship

2011-12 Real Estate Manual Published - Available on CD-ROM and Online

The North Carolina Real Estate Manual is being published for the first time in electronic media in addition to its traditional form as a printed book.

Published in December, the 2011-2012 Manual is available on CD-ROM and, through subscription on this website. The purchase price for either the CD-ROM or online subscription is $20, including tax and shipping where applicable. A subscription is good until the publication of a new edition, projected for the fall of 2012. The Manual files on the Web site and on disk are “READ ONLY” and may not be printed or changed.

Trial subscriptions permitting free access up to five times to the Manual files on the Web site are also available. Users will be required to register on the Web site. To subscribe, click here.

Paid subscribers please follow instructions to access your subscription.

To order the printed Real Estate Manual, see the online order form on the Publications page.
Owners of older computers may find purchase of a disk preferable to an online subscription to better assure large files can be opened reasonably quickly.

The 992-page printed book is $49 for a single copy and $44 for each additional copy on the same order, including sales tax and shipping.
The Real Estate Manual is the text book for the mandatory 90 hours of postlicensing education and serves as a reference book for real estate licensees, attorneys, instructors and anyone interested in real estate law and brokerage practice. It is the definitive work on the legal aspects of real estate brokerage in North Carolina.

The Manual has been updated and discusses the substantially revised Offer to Purchase and Contract form published jointly by the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® and the North Carolina Bar Association. It also addresses the new HUD-1 Settlement Statement.
Real estate finance changes and new fair housing case studies are included and a new Chapter 21 addresses various brokerage compensation issues.

In whatever form - book, disk, or online subscription - the Real Estate Manual is a handy reference for anyone with questions about real estate brokerage or related issues.

Real Estate Bulletin Online

The October 2011 issue of the Real Estate Bulletin is now available.

Past Real Estate Bulletins

May 2011
March 2011
October 2010
May 2010
January 2010

License Law and Rule Booklet Temporarily Unavailable

The printed version of the North Carolina Real Estate License Law and Commission Rules booklet is temporarily unavailable as the text is updated. Click on the License Laws/Rules page in the bars to the left on this Home page to access the continuously updated online versions of the Law and Commission rules. Printed booklets will again be available in late 2011 or early 2012.

BICAR Eligibility

The Commission’s Broker-in-Charge Annual Review (BICAR) course is designed for and restricted to currently designated brokers-in-charge and brokers who are broker-in-charge eligible. A broker who is not a broker-in-charge or who is not broker-in-charge eligible will not receive credit for the BICAR course.

A broker is broker-in-charge eligible when he or she has been designated as a broker-in-charge and completed the Commission’s 12-hour Broker-in-Charge course. A broker may maintain that eligibility indefinitely, even when not serving as a broker-in-charge, by taking the Broker-in-Charge Annual Review (BICAR) course each license period. The BICAR satisfies the annual continuing education elective requirement. In addition, the broker must also take the mandatory annual Update course and timely renew his or her license.

From time to time a broker who has lost his or her designation or eligibility will take the course and not fully understand why he or she is not receiving continuing education credit. If you believe yourself to be a broker-in-charge or broker-in-charge eligible, select “Licensees Only” from the menu on the left side of the Homepage and check your status. Eligible brokers will be able to login and select a “BIC Eligible Document” verifying their current eligibility status. All others will not have this option available to them. If you are unable to print a “BIC Eligible Document” from this area of the Web site and feel that your record is incorrect, please contact the Commission’s Information Services Section at 919-875-3700, Ext. 772.

A broker may lose his or her status or eligibility to serve as a broker-in-charge for any of the following reasons: 1) the broker’s license expires or the broker’s license is suspended, revoked or surrendered; 2) the broker’s license is made inactive for any reason, including failure to satisfy the continuing education requirements; 3) the broker fails to complete the Broker-in-Charge Annual Review Course; or 4) the broker is found by the Commission to have not possessed the experience required at the time of either initial designation as a broker-in-charge or re-designation as a broker-in-charge.

Please take the time to consult the Commission’s Web site prior to taking the BICAR course to verify that the Commission’s records reflect that you are indeed a broker-in-charge or broker-in-charge eligible to ensure you will receive your continuing education credit.

William C. Lackey, Jr.

The Commission regrets the passing of William C. Lackey, Jr., of Cornelius, a member of the Commission from 1999 to 2006 and a former Vice Chairman.

Hurricanes, Evacuations, and Vacation Rentals

With hurricane season well underway, a review of the laws governing evacuations and vacation rentals is appropriate.

(1) The first and most important thing to remember is that when state or local authorities order a mandatory evacuation of a coastal area, tenants occupying vacation rental properties must comply with the order. Evacuations are ordered to protect human life and health and are not undertaken lightly. Brokers managing vacation rental properties should support state and local authorities by encouraging and facilitating tenant compliance with evacuation orders.

(2) When a vacation tenant complies with an evacuation order, he or she is entitled to a refund of a share of the money he or she has paid for the rental (rent, security deposit, taxes, etc.) prorated for each night the evacuation order was in effect. There is an exception to this rule, however. If the tenant was offered travel insurance that covered the risk of mandatory evacuation, then the landlord has no obligation to refund the tenant’s money. To trigger the exception, the cost of the insurance offered cannot exceed 8% of the cost of the vacation rental.

(3) If, following the storm, the landlord or his broker cannot provide a promised rental property to a vacation rental tenant - whether the reason is that the house was significantly damaged or that it is inaccessible due to damage to or closure of roads or ferries - the tenant is entitled to either a refund of his money or the substitution of a reasonably comparable property at the same cost. This refund may come in the form of a paid claim against travel insurance. Tenants are encouraged to read and understand the limits of coverage.

Guide to Contacting the Commission

You will find the new Guide to Contacting the Commission on the Publications page right after the mail-in and online order forms. Print this guide and save it for a handy reference to help you reach the appropriate Division and staff members for your purpose. To be updated as needed, the Guide provides information about each of the Commission's four divisions, phone and fax numbers, email addresses, forms to order by fax, tips on productive use of the Commission website, and a map to the Commission office.

Newly Updated Broker-in-Charge Guide Published

The 202-page Broker-in-Charge Guide, an essential resource for brokers who, according to Commission records are responsible for managing a real estate office, has been updated effective July 2011. Included is an expanded discussion of trust account management with the addition of several examples, plus updating in other areas to reflect Real Estate License Law and Commission rule changes that have occurred or are imminent since the BIC Guide was last published in July 2009. Orders may be placed for the Guide either online from the Publications page or with printed forms to mail or fax.

Postlicensing Educational Guidelines

For complete information about your postlicensing education requirements according to your license category (PB, PB9, PBT or Nonresident), go to the "Postlicensing" button to the left on this page and follow the appropriate links. Your license category appears on your pocket card.

Trust Account Compliant Software Vendors List Now Available

A list of vendors of software that the Commission has found to be "substantially" compliant with Commission rules and the Trust Account Guidelines can be found by clicking here.