May/June 2010 - Greater Capital Association of REALTORS

Transcription

May/June 2010 - Greater Capital Association of REALTORS
Caring • Committed • Community-Minded
Official Publication of the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®
VOLUME 21, NUMBER 3 MAY/JUNE 2010
The REALTOR® Property Resource:
Coming Soon To Your Computer
What is the REALTORS® Property
Resource™?
NAR’s Second Century Initiatives
include the creation of the REALTORS®
Property ResourceTM (RPR), an online
real estate library/archive that will
provide real estate professionals with
data on every property in the United
States.
This initiative will provide access to a
national database of real property information and will give real estate professionals the best access to real property
information needed to serve their clients
and customers. It will include in-depth,
trusted information on every parcel of
real property including public record
information, details of prior transactions,
MLS-provided information, zoning information, transfer tax information, foreclosure and notice of default data, deed
recordings and a host of other relevant
information.
The initiative will be based on the collaborative efforts of REALTORS® and the
real estate community, including MLSs. It
will drive development and implementation of data standards and definitions,
and will increase the breadth, depth,
immediacy and power of real estate
information available to REALTORS®.
BENEFITS & HIGHLIGHTS
The RPR™ will provide unmatched
access to a single-source national compilation of tax and assessment data;
property data; neighborhood, school,
demographic and psychographic information; and maps, trends and reports.
It will be exclusive to members of NAR,
and members of subscribing MLS’s who
are participants of the RPR.
Members who register with a valid
NRDS ID can access non-proprietary,
non-MLS sourced data; however, only
MLS Subscribers/Participants will be
able to view MLS sourced information.
There will be no public access to the
RPR™, and the database and its data
cannot be shared through consumer
websites.
The RPR™ is not a national MLS, and
will carry no offers of cooperation and
compensation. Its design is to provide a single-source access for public
record information for commercial,
residential and vacant land such as
tax assessments and comparable data,
liens, zoning, permits, environmental,
neighborhoods, school districts and
community demographics.
With this new technology acquisition and data licensing, the RPR™ will
provide tax and assessment data coverage in 92% of U.S. counties, and has
an aggressive plan to provide coverage for as close to 100% of the country
as possible within two years.
The RPR’s™ national demographic information, along with enhanced search capabilities, will allow a REALTOR® anywhere in
the country to provide more information to their clients. The enhanced search
features will allow nationwide depth of
property searches, as well as market-tomarket comparisons. Advanced User
Profile Features and social networking
components will help REALTORS® create
referral communities, as well as reverseprospect specialized property types, such
as vacation and waterfront to REALTORS®
throughout the U.S.
The RPR™ system will include online
training and contextual help, along
with support through e-mail, online
chat and toll-free telephone.
The RPR™ will be rolled out in stages
over the six to nine months following
NAR’s May meetings. But it will be
here soon for all of NAR’s 1 million
members.
CRMLS has agreed to cooperate with
RPR™ pending review of the licensing
agreement. Let RPR™ help make you
better armed to serve your customers
and clients.
Go to blog.narrpr.com for more
information, for RPR™ demos, and to
hear what others are saying about the
power of the RPR™.
GCAR Health Insurance Plans
Open Enrollment
June 1-20, 2010
GCAR’s health insurance plans available to members and employees of
members at an open enrollment during June 1 through 20 of 2010 for an
effective date of July 1, 2010. Refer below for plan details.
Call 464-0191 (x14) for an application.
Teams in CRMLS
PLANS
2009 Rates (Quarterly)
Sole Proprietor
Paragon Recognizes Everyone
CRMLS has established the ability of
agent teams to be recognized in and
accounted for by Paragon. Let’s start using
that opportunity. This is how the system
works:
1) CRMLS is notified that a team exists and
that team is entered into Paragon by CRMLS
staff. We need the team name, the agent
serving as the team leader, and any other
agents who belong to that team. This information can be updated/edited by CRMLS
at any time. So if a team member leaves
the team their name will be removed; if a
new team member joins that agent will be
added; if the team leader changes that can
be adjusted.
2) When a listing is entered into CRMLS
the team member who obtained the listing
should be shown as LA1. This is the agent
who knows the most about a listing; this is
the person other CRMLS members will try
to contact first for listing information, etc.
3) The team is also entered upon listing
entry from a drop down menu of registered teams.
4) The listing in CRMLS will then show the
Blue Shield of NE NY (Series 206)
Individual: $1539.21
Standard or Custom Option
2 Person: $3139.65
(50% Drug Plan)
Family: $4176.15
Must Provide Tax Documentation with application
$1677.18
$3139.65
$4552.55
CDPHP
(50% Drug Plan)
Individual: $1224.39
2 Person: $2433.84
Family: $3229.44
$1393.71
$2772.45
$3679.50
CDPHP Dental
50% Drug Plan)
Must have 2 or more on payroll
Individual: $1323.12
2 Person: $2631.30
Family: $3491.04
N/A
N/A
N/A
EPO (2 or more groups)
(Deductible plan)
Individual: $1015.38
2 Person: $2015.96
Family: $2673.87
$1155.42
$2295.84
$3046.08
continued on page 2
In This
Issue:
Open House photos - go to page 4!
DATED MATERIAL
Permit No. #164
Albany, NY
With The President .......................................................................... page 2
CIREB Corner ..................................................................................... page 5
Borrower's Lawsuit for RESPA ........................................................ page 6
Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®
451 New Karner Road
Albany, New York 12205
PAID
PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
2
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
With The President
Annual GCAR Open House Weekend.
With nearly 1,200 open houses scheduled, I can safely say that this is an
event that many of our members have
responded to positively.
2010
GCAR President
Laurene Curtin
It’s our time of the year! The Spring
Market is here and I hope that you are
all finding your success with your customers and clients. As I write this message, we are days away from our first
The IRS has reported that through
the end of February they have record
of 60,000 New Yorkers who took advantage of the First Time Home Buyers
Tax Credit in 2009. The stimulus was
clearly a motivator to buyers.
I hope you are using our new statistical reports and forwarding the
Capital Region Skinny to your “Sphere
of Influence.” The reports and the
Skinny are great tools and provide
us with a touch of a button access to
stats throughout our region.
With interest rates remaining low
and consumer confidence slowly on
the rise, I hope that this is a good year
for all of you.
We have seen higher than normal
attendance at all of the training and
educational seminars at GCAR this
year. We hope to continue to bring
you as much information as we can to
keep you all up to date on real estate
technology and tools.
Coincidentally, as we roll out reLay
Transaction Management, we are seeing some of the real estate attorneys
offering it to their clients as well. It’s
nice to know that our timing is in line
with theirs. CRMLS is offering training on reLay on a handful of dates to
accommodate all of your schedules.
Please visit our new website, www.
GCAR.com, please respond to the
REALTOR® Calls to Action and please
let us know if there are any tools that
you would like or anything else we
can do for you as your Association
leadership.
Teams in CRMLS
continued from page 1
LA1 name and contact information AND
the team name and contact information.
Other agents will have all that information
in front of them when looking at the Full
Agent Display.
5) Upon sale the SA1 agent is entered
and, if that agent is on a team the team
name is entered as well.
6) When statistics are run the team members will get individual credit for their
hard work; the team will get credit for its
volume; and the company will get credit
as well. So everyone will be recognized in
the transaction. Everyone on both sides.
7) It is felt that the determining factor in who should show as the LA1 or
SA1 is the agent who obtained the NYS
Disclosure Regarding Real Estate Agency
Relationships (New York State Disclosure
Form For Buyers and Sellers). This is the
person who established the agency relationship on behalf of the principal broker
of the real estate firm.
8) It should be noted here that the
agency disclosure form indicates, in
part, “This form was provided to me by
____________ (print name of licensee) of
____________________ (print name of
company, firm or brokerage……)”. Clearly
if anyone was to fill that in so it reads “This
form was provided to me by ‘The XYZ
Team” that would be a violation of law.
“The XYZ Team” is not a licensee. If audited
the principal broker would, we expect,
have difficulty with the Department of
State. The licensee having that substantive direct contact with the buyer or seller
is the name to be included there.
Using the team system established by
CRMLS allows several things: It allows
agents, teams, and companies to be properly recognized within Paragon; and it allows
other agents to know which agent to contact and how to contact that agent. On the
second point other agents will not have to
call the “team leader” only to be referred to
the appropriate team member. And if the
LA1 is not available then the team contact
information is readily available.
Let’s start using what CRMLS has developed to have accurate information available.
Member Update
Congratulations to REALTOR® Bob Eberle, Keller Williams Capital District, on having been awarded the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) designation by the
Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council.
Congratulations to REALTOR® Sandra Evans, RE/MAX Premier and REALTOR®
Mitra Gouneh, Realty USA on being awarded the Graduate REALTOR® Institute
designation by the New York State Association of REALTORS®.
99 Club ($99): REALTOR® Marie Bettini, Albany Realty Group; REALTOR®
Laurene Curtin, Albany Realty Group; REALTOR Victoria Gettings, Realty USA;
REALTOR® Joel Koval, Realty USA; REALTOR® Estelle Momrow; Coldwell
Banker Prime Properties; REALTOR Sandra Nardoci, Prudential Manor Homes;
and REALTOR® Merle Whitehead, Realty USA.
Congratulations and thank you to the following members for their contributions to
the REALTOR® Political Action Committee:
Sympathies are extended to:
REALTOR® Kathy Muscolino, TechValley Homes Real Estate and her family
on the death of her father-in-law Joseph Muscolino.
President’s Club ($500): REALTOR® Nina Amadon, Weichert, REALTORS®,
Northeast Group
REALTOR® Melissa Petalas, Miranda Real Estate Group and her family on
the death of her father-in-law John Petalas.
Capitol Club ($250): REALTOR® Robert Blackman, Realty USA; and REALTOR®
Robert Freedman, R L F Realty.
Across the Association
The newspaper of the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®, INC.
451 New Karner Road
Albany, New York 12205
(518) 464-0191 • Fax: (518) 464-0196
“The Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® is a professional
trade association which provides its members with programs
and services which enhance the members‘ ability to successfully
conduct their businesses in a competent and ethical manner,
promotes cooperation among its members, and promotes the
public‘s right to own, use and transfer real property.”
The voice for Real Estate in
New York‘s Capital Region.
Caring • Committed • Community-minded
Officers
President – Laurene Curtin
President Elect – Paul Semanek
Secretary/Treasurer – Nina Amadon
Chief Executive Officer – James Ader
Dir. Ed/Mbr. Svcs – Nancy Ruzzo
Directors
Jill Birdsall
Anne Carroll
Anthony Garufi
Jennifer Fortune-Gras
Cathy Griffin
Patricia Hamm
Joel Koval
Estelle Momrow
Sandra Nardoci
Albert Picchi
Judy Rosen
Janna Shillinglaw
Jenny Zigrosser
World Wide Web page: www.gcar.com
E-mail: support@gcar.com
Production & Printing:
Foley Publications, Inc. • (800) 628-6983
Graphic Designer:
Scott Arnold, Foley Publications, Inc.
Advertising Information:
Foley Publications, Inc. • (800) 628-6983
The Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® makes no
warranties and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy on the information contained herein. The opinions
expressed in articles are not necessarily the opinions of
the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®.
The Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® does not
necessarily endorse the companies products or services
advertised in the newsletter unless specifically stated.
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
3
IRS Requires
Reporting of Cooperative Commissions
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”)
requires that listing brokers who pay
a cooperative commission in excess
of $600 to an individual who is not
their employee must complete a Form
1099-MISC. While this is not a new law,
it has come to NAR’s attention that not
all real estate professionals are aware
of this requirement. Below is a brief
description of this issue and links to
the necessary forms.
IRS Requirements
The IRS requires individuals that:
1) pay compensation of $600 or
2) an individual who is not an employee
3) for services provided
4) during the course of the payor’s
trade or business to complete Box
7- Nonemployee Compensation on
Form 1099-MISC, give Copy B of the
form to the individual who received
the compensation, and file Copy A
with the IRS. “Nonemployee compensation” includes fees, commissions, prizes, and awards, and so
would include cooperative commissions and referral fees paid by
real estate professionals because
these payments are made during
the course of their trade or business to nonemployees.
These filing requirements exist even if
the listing broker is not directly paying
the cooperative commission to the other
broker. So, if the cooperative commission is paid by the escrow agent to the
other broker, the listing broker may still
need to file a 1099-MISC. This is because
the funds constituting the cooperative
commission are drawn from the listing
broker’s portion of the commission and
so the payment is technically made by
the listing broker.
This requirement only applies to payments made to individuals, and does
not apply when the payments are made
to corporations. Listing brokers should
still make it part of their business practice to obtain a completed Form W-9
from anyone to whom it pays a commission, whether it be an individual or
a corporation. Property owners do not
need to complete a 1099-MISC for the
commissions they pay to real estate
professionals because this activity is not
part of their trade or business.
Here is an illustrative example:
Joe Seller lists his home for sale
with real estate broker Don Listbroker.
Listbroker places the listing into a multiple listing service and offers a cooperative commission to any MLS participant
who brings him a buyer that successfully
purchases the property. A client of another broker's salesperson, Julie Buyerep,
made an offer to purchase Seller’s home.
Seller accepts the offer, and the transaction closes. At closing, the escrow agent
makes commission payments to both
Listbroker and Buyerep’s principal broker,
Don Broker. Here is who is required to
report commissions to the IRS:
Listbroker has an obligation to report
the commission payments made to
Broker, even though Broker received
the commission check from the escrow
agent.
Broker has an obligation to report the
commission amounts that he pays to
Buyerep.
Neither Seller nor the buyer have any
obligation to report the commissions
that their real estate representatives
received.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/
i1099msc.pdf
Reporting Deadlines and Other
Information
For the 2010 tax year, all 1099-MISC
Copy B forms must be sent to payment
recipients by February 1, 2011. The IRS
must receive Copy A by March 1, 2011.
If the taxpayer files electronically, they
have until March 31, 2011 to file Copy A
(note there are certain software requirements for filing electronically with the
IRS). Below are links to the IRS’s instructions for completing Form 1099-MISC
and also the Form itself.
In order to complete the 1099-MISC,
a taxpayer needs to obtain certain information from the recipient, such as a
social security number or an employer
identification number. Brokers should
obtain this information by giving Form
W-9 to every broker to whom it pays
cooperative commissions (or causes to
be paid) and request that the cooperating brokers return a completed Form
W-9 to the taxpayer. This form will give
the taxpayer sufficient information to
complete the 1099-MISC and will also
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/
f1099msc.pdf
inform the taxpayer about whether the
cooperating broker is an individual or a
corporation.
Remember, if the cooperative commission is paid to a corporation, the
taxpayer does not need to file a Form
1099-MISC. However, it is recommended that the taxpayer make it part of
its risk management policies to obtain
the W-9 from all cooperating brokers,
in order to demonstrate that it verified
the corporate status of the cooperative
broker. If the cooperating broker refuses
to return the W-9, the taxpayer can still
verify the corporate status of the cooperating broker by checking its secretary
of state’s website.
4
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
Bowling For Kids Sake
Open House
Over thirty members and friends participated in GCAR’s Bowling For Kids Sake to
benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region.
15 Love
GCAR Public Relations Committee chair
Tracy Metzger reviews the script before
she records the Open House Weekend
radio spot.
Shown shortly before the radio 1300
interview promoting GCAR’s Open
House Weekend are Kelly Stevens, 1330
talk show host and GCAR president
Laurene Curtin.
Marie Bettini, MaryLou Pinckney,
Laurene Curtin and John Barscz formed
a formidable team.
GCAR’s Community Outreach Fund
presented a check for $1,500 to 15
Love, an organization whose mission statement is "To reach out in a
loving, caring way to youth of the
Capital Region (using tennis as the
medium), especially those in the inner
cities." Shown in the presentation
photo are: (l-r) seated: Amber Marino,
executive director and Katie Genovese,
director of development; standing:
Janna Shillinglaw, GCAR Community
Relations Committee chair; Sarah
Penge and Geina Ford, Albany High
School interns at 15 Love; Laurene
Curtin, GCAR president; and David
LaVoie, GCAR Community Relations
Committee member.
STAFF DIRECTORY
GCAR STAFF
Empower Yourself
In 2010
And Sell More Homes
Join this FREE partnership with OHI-ENY and
become one of the hundreds of real estate professionals
fueled with the “selling power” of Oilheat.
As a member of the OHI-ENY Oilheat-Realty Partnership, you’ll:
4 Get to know the “selling points” of today’s clean, safe, economical Oilheat
through FREE programs, events and literature
4 Team up with local Oilheat dealers who can help you meet your clients’
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Brought to you by the Oil Heat Institute of Eastern New York and the National Oilheat Research Alliance.
Tel: 518.464.0191
Fax: 518.464.0196
E-mail: support@gcar.com
Chief Executive Officer
James A. Ader (Ext. 16)
E-mail: jader@gcar.com
Director Education & Member Services
Nancy A. Ruzzo (Ext. 15)
E-mail: nruzzo@gcar.com
Assistant to the C.E.O. & Financial
Secretary
Huguette Bushey (Ext. 14)
E-mail: hbushey@gcar.com
Assistant Education & Member Services
Gina Martin (Ext. 10)
E-mail: gmartin@gcar.com
Administrative Assistant
Nancy Krebs (Ext. 11)
E-mail: nkrebs@gcar.com
CRMLS STAFF
Tel: 518.464.8913
Fax: 518.464.8915
Chief Administrator
James A. Ader (Ext. 16)
E-mail: jader@gcar.com
CRMLS Senior Administrative Assistant
Diane Hazzard (Ext. 19)
E-mail: dhazzard@crmls.com
CRMLS Administrative Assistant
Michele Miaski (Ext. 17)
E-mail: mmiaski@crmls.com
CIREB STAFF
Tel: 518.464.0194
Fax: 518.464.0196
CIREB Executive Assistant
Kelly Pierce (Ext. 12)
E-mail: kpierce@cireb.com
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
5
CIREB Corner
Marketing session hosts Tyler Culberson and Jim Harder; Denise Zieske, Albany
County Airport Realty; and guest speaker John O'Donnell, CEO Albany County
Airport Authority.
Guest Speaker Michael Wacholder, RPI Tech Park Director; marketing session host
Tracy Metzger; and CIREB president Jim Conroy.
CIREB Monthly Marketing Sessions
in Review
TL Metzger & Associates hosted
the March session in the Rensselaer
Technology Park at 4 Global View Drive
at the WMHT offices.
NAI Platform hosted the April session at 22 Jetway Drive, Colonie, located within the Albany International
Airport.
The May session will be hosted by
The Galesi Group on Thursday May 6th.
The session will be held at 433 State
Street, Schenectady New York. Details
to be announced to the membership
via e-mail.
CIREB holds its monthly marketing
sessions on the first Thursday of each
month and are free to all CIREB members. Guests may attend these sessions at a cost of $10.00 per person. If
you would like to attend a marketing
session or join CIREB, please call Kelly
Pierce @ 518-464-0194 or visit www.
CIREB.com for more information.
Upcoming Events - CIREB Annual
Charity Golf Outing –SPONSORS
AND RAFFLE ITEMS NEEDED!
CIREB’s Annual Charity Golf Outing
at Capital Hills Golf Course, Albany,
NY on Monday, June 21st. CIREB
members and their guests will come
together for a great time while raising money for the Children’s Hospital
at Albany Medical Center. Contact
Golf Committee chair Alex Kutikov,
akutikov@vanguardfine.com, for more
information. Sponsorship levels and
availability are posted on our website.
CIREB Welcomes New Members
Broker Members
Jared George – Tri Capital Realty, Albany
Mark O’Connell – Amenity Realty Group, Wilton.
Associate Members
Brandon Bellamy – IKON Realty Group
Jamie Brown – Trinity Realty Group
Kathleen Gilboy – TL Metzger & Associates
Michael Schulman – DB Cohen Commercial
Peter VanBortel – IKON Realty Group.
%*
+
(
%)
%!&!'
!"#$
Mortgage Consultants
Nick Lemme
(518)339-7087 cell
Patricia Chambers
(518)378-6155 cell
Bernadette Ellis
(518)852-4698 cell
Michael Kawola
(518)368-4060 cell
6
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
Borrower’s Lawsuit for RESPA
Violations Reinstated
A federal appellate court has considered
whether a lender violated RESPA by requiring PMI carriers to use its reinsurance subsidiary.
Mary Alston (“Borrower”) obtained a
mortgage from Countrywide Home Loans
(“Lender”). Because the Borrower made a
down payment which was less than 20%
of the purchase price, the Lender required
her to buy private mortgage insurance
(“PMI”). The Lender referred the Borrower to
a group of PMI insurers who were required
to reinsure their PMI with a subsidiary of the
Lender, Balboa Reinsurance Co. (“Reinsurer”).
The Reinsurer provided excess insurance
coverage to the PMI insurers if their losses
exceeded a certain threshold.
The Borrower brought a class-action lawsuit against the Lender, claiming that its
captive reinsurance arrangement violated
Agent Skills Training
“The Listing Agreement Course”
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 3 Hours CE Credit
“The Purchase Contract Course”
1:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. 3.5 Hours CE Credit
These courses are designed as a workshop to assist licensees
in successfully guiding their clients or customers through
the listing and purchasing process.
Instructor: Bill Alston, CRB
Friday, May 21, 2010
GCAR Training Center
541 New Karner Rd., Albany NY 12205
Fee- $45 Each Course
Register online at www.GCAR.com or call 464-0191 x 10
the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
(“RESPA”) because the payments to the
Reinsurer amounted to a disguised kickback to the Lender. RESPA is designed to
protect consumers from unnecessarily high
settlement costs in a real estate transaction. Section 8(a) prohibits any person from
giving or receiving a thing of value for the
referral of settlement services in connection with federally related mortgage loans.
Section 8(b) provides that no person shall
accept “any portion, split or percentage of
any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service”
other than for services actually performed.
Penalties for RESPA violations include damages three times the unlawful charge.
The trial court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the PMI rates paid by Pennsylvania
citizens had been approved by the state
and so were per se reasonable. The trial
court also determined that because the PMI
rates did not constitute an “unreasonably
high settlement charge”, the borrowers had
no standing to bring a RESPA lawsuit. The
Borrower appealed the court’s ruling.
The United States Court of Appeal for the
Third Circuit reversed the trial court. The
question before the court was whether a
lawsuit for alleged RESPA violations could be
brought even if the alleged violation does
not result in an overcharge to a consumer.
The court looked at the statutory language, and found nothing in the statute
that required an overcharge for a violation of RESPA. Indeed, the court found that
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RESPA’s penalty provision simply stated that
the damages for violations are “three times
the amount of any charge paid for such
settlement service.” Because the statutory
language did not require an overcharge, the
court reversed the trial court’s ruling that an
overcharge was required in order to bring a
RESPA action.
Instead, the court ruled that a consumer
can maintain a RESPA lawsuit for any charge
that allegedly involves a kickback or fee split
that violates RESPA. Thus, the case was sent
back to the lower court for further proceedings to determine if the Lender violated
RESPA through its “captive reinsurance” program.
Standards of Practice
3-4 and 16-16 Still Not Enforceable
in New York
Recently, the NYSAR Legal Hotline
has seen an increased number of callers inquiring about the enforcement
of Standards of Practice (SOP) 3-4 (formerly 9-9) and 16-16 (formerly 21-16) in
the REALTOR Code of Ethics.
actions to which they are not a party.
Furthermore, DOS stated that such a
rule creates the threat of price fixing
pressure that would result in harm to
the public through inflation of the costs
of real estate transactions.
The New York State, Department of
State, Division of Licensing Services
(DOS) had issued a declaratory ruling in
1992 stating that the provisions of SOP
3-4 are unenforceable in New York. SOP
3-4 states as follows: “REALTORS, acting as listing brokers, have an affirmative obligation to disclose the existence
of dual or variable rate commission
arrangements (i.e., listings where one
amount of commission is payable if
the listing broker's firm is the procuring cause of sale/lease and a different
amount of commission is payable if the
sale/lease results through the efforts
of the seller/landlord or a cooperating
broker). The listing broker shall, as soon
as practical, disclose the existence of
such arrangements to potential cooperating brokers and shall, in response to
inquiries from cooperating brokers, disclose the differential that would result
in a cooperative transaction or in a sale/
lease that results through the efforts of
the seller/landlord. If the cooperating
broker is a buyer/tenant representative,
the buyer/tenant representative must
disclose such information to their client before the client makes an offer to
purchase or lease.”
On April 21, 1989, the DOS issued an
opinion stating that SOP 16-16 is not
enforceable in New York. SOP 16-16
states as follows: “REALTORS, acting as
subagents or buyer/tenant representatives or brokers, shall not use the terms
of an offer to purchase/lease to attempt
to modify the listing broker's offer of
compensation to subagents or buyer/
tenant representatives or brokers nor
make the submission of an executed
offer to purchase/lease contingent on
the listing broker's agreement to modify the offer of compensation.”
The Department of State found
that SOP 3-4 enables board members
to intrude on private negotiations
between principal and agent and
required disclosure to members of confidential information involving trans-
In its opinion, the DOS stated that
NAR was not correct on the law and
that all licensees in New York should
be aware that it is the seller, not the
real estate broker, who has the right
to establish the amount and terms of
compensation offered to co-brokers,
subagents and buyer’s agents. DOS
also states that a buyer’s agent who
is unable to make a counteroffer as to
the amount of compensation offered
by the listing broker places the buyer’s
agent in the undesirable position of
having to either abandon or be disloyal
to his client and such coercion constitutes the tort of interference with a
fiduciary relationship.
Real estate licensees who attempt
to enforce either SOP 3-4 and/or SOP
16-16 in New York may be subject to
disciplinary action by the DOS.
Across the Association
MAY/JUNE 2010
7
Welcome New GCAR Members
REALTOR® (principal)
Big Blue Realty
Jerome S. Rucker
Anna M. Brill Brilliant,
Home Realty, Voorheesville
Completely Home
Cheryl Hendricks
Buyers Choice Realty
Michelle Rodriguez
Frank W. Cermak,
Rexford Appraisal Services, Rexford
CMK & Associates Real Estate
Russell Klippel
Jared S. Horton,
Century 21 Purtell Realty
Elizabeth Bonanno
Troy
Anthony W. Jasenski Sr.,
Clancy Real Estate
Cynthia A. Creasy
TriStar Real Estate, Schenectady
Theresa M. Loftman,
Loftman Realty, Albany
Coldwell Banker Prime Properties
Kelsey Baird
John S. Blanchard
J. Michael Caprio
Genevieve Caputo
Kathrine Kahl
Chip Landry
Matthew Normille
Diane Sturhahn
REALTOR® (non-principal)
Adesso Realty
Jennifer M. Kramer
Amenity Realty Group
Heather McLeod
D B Cohen Commercial
Michael A. Schulman
Keller Williams Saratoga Springs
Anna Baker
Lee Ann Campbell
Jeanette Morales
Hunt Real Estate ERA
David Krogmann
Krutz Properties
James A. Trumbull
Keller Williams Capital District
Samuel A. Blanchette
Jennifer A. Cleary
Keith E. Enos
Nelun K. Fernando
Fawn D. McClintock
Frances H. Moore
Charles B. Newton
Mary Stevens Newton
Enkelejda Papa
Steven Scarmozzino
Miranda Real Estate Group
Richard Pangburn
Keller Williams Distinctive
Properties
Gillian Black
Purdy Realty
Bridget Malagisi
Realty USA
Demetrio Daga
Lynn Milone
Michael C. Pezzi
Waseem Samuel
Judy Rosen Real Estate
Alexander H. Monticello
Sterling Homes
Scott P. Sullivan
Pinnacle Realty
Tammy Crandall
TechValley Homes Real Estate
Robert G. Backshall
Prime Property Solutions
Teresa L. Gliosco
Tinkham Real Estate
Dawn M. Mason
Prudential Manor Homes
Emily Mulholland
Charles A. Passaro
Katherine Villanova
Vassi Realty
Marie Fountaine-Engle
Margaret Persico
Weichert, REALTORS®, Northeast Grp.
Phyllis Affinito
Anita L. Pratt
GCAR Affiliate Members
Support Our Affiliate Members As they Support Us
Trustco Bank
Network Settlement Services
First Niagara Mortgage
Times Union
MetLife Home Loans
First National Bank of Scotia
TD Banknorth
HSBC Mortgage Network
Countrywide Home Loans
SEFCU
Home Mortgage Network
Commission Express of New York
Oil Heat Institute of Eastern New York
Home Funding Finders
Berkshire Bank
NYS Office of Real Property Services
First Rate Funding
Arnoff Moving & Storage
First Priority Mortgage
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nationally recognized
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“I don’t know what I’d do without
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FREE
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518.436.9727
Authoritative legal information on a wide
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Richard Askew
(518) 383-4804
Anthony D’Agostino
(518) 783-1963
Peter Hughes
(518) 577-7707
Gregory Sanchez
(518) 765-2042
NYSAR’s Legal Hotline does not provide a client-lawyer relationship.
For confidential legal advice, consult an attorney.
Tom Corrigan
(518) 439-7007
Wynn Englisbe
(518) 478-0113
Lawrence McGann
(518) 937-2952
Peter Schaming
(518) 768-2713
Robert Davis
(518) 885-7949
James Gibb
(518) 465-5024
Jason Micare
(518) 857-5555
Markus Snedaker
(518) 461-9272
Paul C. Doyle
(518) 439-8102
Stan Grajny, P.E.
(518) 221-3240
Joseph Pickel
(518) 369-0481
Doug Vierath
(518) 496-7240
NYS requires Licensing. ASHI requires Excellence. Go ASHI!
Robert Davis, President
www.goashi.com Joe Pickel, Vice President
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Instructor: Randy Templeman, ABR, AHWD, CRS
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4 easy ways to register:
Visit the Members' Education Section at nysar.com
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Call 463-0300 x 219
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