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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
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Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan and Anne Flater,
recipient of the Blanton Little Memorial Scholarship |
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Commission Chairman Marsha Jordan, former Executive Director
Phillip T. Fisher, and Cindy Hope, recipient of the
Phillip T. Fisher Scholarship |
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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.
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