Jameson Stone, legal counsel for the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS®, provides a legal column to our membership.
Most of you have had some experience with the mediation program established by the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® and invoked in the agreement of sale, most likely from working with a client who initiates mediation or upon whom a request for mediation has been served. REALTORS® too are named respondents in a mediation, usually by an aggrieved buyer. Here are some helpful tips for you and your clients to consider when attending a mediation conference…
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My contacts with the real estate community more often are with those who practice in the residential market…where the dam seems to have broken. The pent-up frustration has led to a flood of activity in some of our counties and cities. Consumers caught in the pinch are relieved as are licensees are now out and about…
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Social Media Remember being inundated with solicitations for courses on the essentials of social networking, the rules of media etiquette and the like? Everyone was all over that stuff. Today, when the Commonwealth’s response to the pandemic evokes such vitriol and division it is hard to imagine that the message from those lessons stuck. As a lawyer working from home…
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Realtors® are reliant on standard forms for many good reasons. The forms have established a somewhat uniform transaction, particularly for resale homes. A standard and familiar path reduces mistakes and liability. Unfortunately, the physical distancing required by our Governor and personal desire to protect our families, ourselves and others has taken us far afield from the standard path. …
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I would imagine that you are focused on little more than a single issue these days. I will therefore keep this short. There are more questions than answers. This will change and I suggest that you continue to monitor the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®’ online publication JustListed. PAR is working tirelessly to provide you with the latest…
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A recent spat between brokers brings focus to this standard form. There is a broker who, like others, requires that all settled transactions undergo a review before the salesperson’s commission is paid. The review assures that management is supervising its affiliates and that glaring errors can be rectified with the appropriate education or other measures. At issue is the broker’s demand that the closed file include a copy of the Pre- Settlement Walkthrough Report signed by the buyers and sellers…
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It’s my mantra. I’ve uttered it hundreds of thousands of times, and mostly to REALTORS®. It is never wrong, but it may not be as helpful an answer as can be given. Whether an act is legal depends upon the specific setting, the facts and the reason one is asking. Let’s start with the reason one is asking…
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An article that appeared in the New York Times in November cited study results showing housing discrimination by real estate licensees. Investigators posing as white buyers received different treatment than buyers of color and of other minority classifications. Among the allegations was steering. Licensees directed buyers to properties that, in the opinions of the licensees…
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The last major change to the Standard Agreement of Sale for Real Estate (ASR) added the requirement that the buyer order a title report within so many days of execution of the agreement. The reaction to this change was all over the place, but most folks were calm. So the question is, nearly a year later…
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I have been saying it for nearly 40 years and it remains true: most law suits involving the sale of residential real property claim that the seller failed to disclose material defects. The seller is usually not the only defendant. The listing and selling licensees and the home inspector are frequently sued as well. The path to suit follows a familiar pattern…
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