SRCAR Connect

We had the great pleasure to have four of our local City Managers stop by the new SRCAR office on Monday, September 13th for our Realtor Action Fund Breakfast. In this meeting, the City Managers addressed some of our members with updates of their city.

Attached are the presentations from each of the cities:

Menifee – Steve Harding (9.5MB)

Murrieta – Rick Dudley (21.6MB)

Temecula – Shawn Nelson (11.4MB)

Wildomar – Frand Oviedo (54.2MB)

Our Government Affairs Director, Gene Wunderlich was there and has written a great article about the RAF breakfast which can be seen on the SRCAR GAD Blog.

Drywall is going up!

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SPECIAL REPORT
(Second in Series)
SHORT SALE NEGOTIATORS
Fiduciary Duties / Contractual Relationships / MLS Issues

THIS IS CONTINUED FROM THIS ARTICLE

In last month’s article, we discussed various issues regarding short sale negotiators, including, among other things, their use, license requirements, and duties.  This month, we continue the discussion of issues arising from the utilization of short sale negotiators, highlighting the various rules and obligations that apply to their use.  Like last month’s article, we acknowledge and thank the California Department of Real Estate for permission to use material from the recent short sale article by Wayne Bell and Mark Tutera, published in the DRE California Real Estate Bulletin, Spring 2010.

Recent Development in Fraudulent Short-Sale Activities

The DRE article details an example of a fraudulent straw-man flipping scheme for short sale properties.  Let’s recap that scenario and then briefly discuss the applicable laws, Articles of the Code of Ethics and MLS Rules that are violated in that scenario.

The example includes an unlicensed short sale service company (we will refer to it as “the Service Company”) that contacts a distressed homeowner to tell him that it will facilitate the sale of the homeowner’s “underwater” (negative equity) property.  The Service Company demands an up-front fee from the homeowner.  To induce the homeowner to hire the Service Company, the Service Company may promise payments to the homeowner after the home sells.

Continue reading ‘SPECIAL REPORT: SHORT SALE NEGOTIATORS: Fiduciary Duties / Contractual Relationships / MLS Issues part 2 of 2’ »

SRCAR is moving very soon to our new location which will be:

26529 Jefferson Avenue
Murrieta, CA 92562

The projected move time frame is end of August, or early September 2010. This project started April 2010 and we are now in the home stretch of getting the new location renovated to make it SRCAR’s new home.

Below are some construction photos of the progress of the project.

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The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS presents

New – C.A.R. Certified Forms Trainer Program

The C.A.R. Certified Forms Trainer program is a ‘train-the-trainer’ course based on C.A.R. Standard Forms. This course is perfect for office managers or trainers who want to provide the best instruction to their agents.

Benefits of attending the program:

• Receive quality instruction from C.A.R. Legal staff
• Learn proven forms training techniques
• Understand how to integrate C.A.R. Forms Tutor™ and zipForm 6 into your presentation
• Receive training material & the C.A.R. Sample Forms CD
• Join the C.A.R. Certified Trainers’ resource webpage to network with other professionals in your area
• Receive a C.A.R. Certificate of Completion

Register now for our first ‘C.A.R. Certified Forms Trainer’ program and receive a $40 discount!

Certification cannot be used for promotional purposes when teaching for profit unless specifically endorsed by C.A.R.’s Education Department.

Additionally, participants must successfully complete C.A.R.Education’s Live Lecture or Online Department of Real Estate (DRE) course titled, Your Guide to the Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA) and Related Forms from March 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. Please refer to the registration page for complete details.

As of June 1st, if a lockbox is present on a Residential or Residential Income (1 – 4 Units) property which is located in the CARETS service area and is listed for sale or lease in the CARETS system, the lockbox must be an electronic lockbox that is accessible by a key issued by one of the CARETS members. More than one lockbox may be used on a property as long as one of them meets the criteria above.

Please reference the following links to better understand our rules and policies and to avoid violation notifications:

http://www.srcar.org/documents/CARETS_Standardized_RULES_and_Regs.pdf

http://www.srcar.org/documents/CARETS_Data_Integrity_Standards.pdf

Just a couple updates – We had a terrific time in Sacramento the first week of June. This year we again brought a few of our Realtor® Action Fund investors up for our Legislative Day. Though the Legislative Schedule was very hectic owing to the session cross-over date, we were able to visit briefly with Assemblymember Kevin Jeffries outside the chamber, and with both Jeffries and Senator Dennis Hollingsworth at our Realtor® Reception that evening.

We got a rousing talk from former (and future?) Governor Jerry Brown. Jerry is a somewhat mellowed version of his former self and an altogether likeable fellow. He talked about the benefits of experience over the glamour of youth, a position he did not espouse when he last talked to our group in 1977.

Continue reading ‘A Big REALTOR® Party Win – Thanks to YOU.’ »

(changes in RED)

Changes to MLS Rules & Regulations

4.10  Authorization for Mandatory Training.  Participants and Subscribers may be required, at the discretion of the MLS, to complete additional training of not more than four (4) classroom hours in any twelve (12) month period when deemed necessary by the MLS to familiarize participants and subscribers with system changes or enhancements, and/or changes to MLS rules or policies.  Participants and subscribers must be given the opportunity to complete any mandated additional training remotely.
9.2  Disclosing the Existence of Offers.  Listing brokers, in response to inquiries from buyers or cooperating brokers, shall, with the seller’s(s’) approval, disclose the existence of offers on the property.  Where disclosure is authorized, the listing broker shall also disclose whether offers were obtained by the listing licensee, by another licensee in the listing firm, or by a cooperating broker only if asked.
13.6  Required Lockbox.  If a lockbox is present on a Residential or Residential Income (1 – 4 Units) property which is located in the CARETS service area and is listed for sale or lease in the CARETS system, the lockbox must be an electronic lockbox that is accessible by a key issued by one of the CARETS members.  More than one lockbox may be used on a property as long as one of them meets the criteria above.

Changes to Data Integrity Standards

New construction properties for which an APN has not yet been assigned by the Assessor or properties without an assigned APN can be handled in two ways: 1) Input an APN that is entirely blank.  This is the ONLY time a blank APN may be entered, 2) Input the previous APN of the land upon which the property is being built.  In either case, when an APN is assigned by the Assessor’s office, it should immediately be input to the MLS.

• Duplicate Listings

There shall be only ONE active record in the MLS database for each PROPERTY TYPE that is for sale or lease. Duplicate listings are misleading, skew the statistics, and make Comparative Market Analyses (CMAs) cumbersome and often incorrect.

Brokers and agents accessing the MLS as a member of CDAR/Desert Area MLS are subject to the CARETS MLS Rules and Regulations and Data Integrity Standards.