Caveat REALTOR®

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses harassment in the workplace, a topic that has been dominating news stories over the past few weeks. Cate and Jon discuss broker liability for harassment in the office, how to prevent harassment in the workplace, and what policies brokers should have in place. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “My agents a...

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team looks at property management and discusses tenant selection criteria. Cate and Erin discuss some best practices in establishing tenant selection criteria and review Fair Housing laws. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “As one of my tenant selection criteria, can I refuse to rent to college students?” Finally, Cate...

Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA. Cate and Laura review the main provisions of RESPA, and discuss how it is applicable to brokers and real estate licensees. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “I am going to host an open house for other agents. A local title company wants to reimburse me for the cost of food but does not wa...

In this special Thanksgiving episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses REALTORS® and charitable giving. Erin and Laura discuss the benefits and some risks associated with advertising your charitable donations as part of your business or tying them to real estate transactions. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “Can I require my agents to partake in volunt...

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses going above and beyond the REALTOR® Code of Ethics. Cate and Laura discuss the Pathways to Professionalism, which addresses issues of courtesy or etiquette. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “If I follow the Pathways to Professionalism, will I ever be in violation of the Code of Ethics?” Finally, Cate and...

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses business continuity issues. Cate and Laura discuss the policies brokers should have in place in the event a broker or salesperson dies, and additional actions that real estate licensees can also take. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “When an agent dies and there is a pending contract for a sale of a hou...

In this special Halloween episode, the Virginia REALTORS®’ legal team discusses stigmatized properties. Cate and Erin discuss disclosure requirements for real estate agents and home owners. They then discuss three real legal hotline questions pertaining to stigmatized properties, including Erin’s own ghost story.

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses an important topic – REALTOR® Safety. Cate and Erin discuss policies brokers can implement to help improve the safety of their agents, and how agents can also take charge of their own safety. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “As a broker, what is my liability for an agent’s safety?” Finally, Cate and Eri...

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team gives an update on website accessibility. Cate and Erin discuss some recent lawsuits pertaining to website accessibility and review the standards set forth in the Web Consent Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “You said there are no current guidelines by the DOJ. If I receive one of tho...

On this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses cybersecurity. Because real estate transactions involve an exchange of financial and personal information, real estate companies can be targets for cybercrime. Cate and Erin review applicable laws and discuss some good cybersecurity practices to help you safeguard information and communicate risks to your clients. They a...

This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team examines antitrust issues in the real estate industry. Cate and Laura review applicable antitrust laws and their penalties. They also discuss the reasons why the real estate industry is particularly susceptible to to antitrust violations. They answer some legal hotline questions, such as “I’m worried that I am not charging my clients enough of a perce...

This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team examines foreclosures from a property management perspective. Hopefully it will not be a situation in which you find yourself, but in this episode Erin and Laura provide you with a practical guide to managing properties in a foreclosure situation. They review important office policies and answer a few legal hotline questions, such as “My tenant provid...

This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team continues their discussion of natural disasters from the perspective of property management. Although you cannot predict when a natural disaster will strike, you can take certain actions to make sure that you and your family are prepared to react. In this episode, Erin and Cate discuss what to do as a property manager when the properties that you mana...

September is emergency preparedness month, and this week the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses home sales and natural disasters. Although you cannot predict when a natural disaster will strike, you can take certain actions to make sure that you and your family are prepared to react. In this episode, Laura and Cate discuss what to do when your client has a home under contract for sale and a...

This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses unlicensed assistants. What can they do for you? What are they not allowed to do? They review some legal hotline questions, such as “Can an unlicensed assistant host and open house?” Finally, Laura and Erin discuss some ways to make sure that your unlicensed assistant can continue to help you in your professional life while staying within th...

What is an independent contractor? How is one different from an employee? This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team discusses independent contractors. Laura and Cate review some legal hotline questions, such as “I want to pay my licensees a base salary. Can I still classify them as independent contractors?” Finally, they discuss some ways to make sure that you properly classify independent co...

Join us for the conclusion of our three-part series on escrow. This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team considers escrow from the perspective of property management. They discuss some common legal hotline questions, such as “My tenant did not provide a forwarding address and has not claimed his security deposit. Can I move the funds out of my escrow account into my operating account?” Finall...

Our three-part series on escrow continues with part two, where the Virginia REALTORS® legal team discusses how to disburse funds from escrow accounts. Cate and Erin review different methods of disbursing funds, including the ever-elusive interpleader. Finally, they discuss some common legal hotline questions, such as “How long is a broker allowed to hold an EMD if neither party agrees to its disbu...

Join us on part one of our three-part series on escrow. This week, the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team looks into earnest money deposits. They review the rules and regulations surrounding escrow accounts and how to handle earnest money deposits. Finally, they discuss some common legal hotline questions, such as “Can you delay depositing the Earnest Money Deposit for a short sale until the lender a...

Deep dive into the world of Property Owners’ Associations with the Virginia REALTORS®’s legal team. In this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, the Virginia REALTOR®’s legal team demystifies Property Owners’ Associations. They discuss how to navigate Property Owners’ Associations, and how you can make sure your client is informed when going through the home buying or selling process. Finally, they also ad...

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, oh my! In this episode of Caveat REALTOR®, the Virginia REALTOR® legal team discusses social media for real estate licensees. They address four areas of major concern: advertising, antitrust, intellectual property, and confidentiality, and then answer some common legal hotline questions, such as “I want to post on Facebook that I just sold a house for over asking...

In this updated episode, the Virginia REALTORS® legal team discusses Virginia laws related to assistance animals. They highlight the difference between service animals under the American with Disabilities Act and assistance animals, discuss updates to Virginia law that took effect on July 1, 2017, and then answer some common legal hotline questions, such as “Can a renter have multiple assistance a...

The Virginia REALTORS® legal team provides updates on the Residential Property Disclosure Act and the required disclosure forms.

The Virginia REALTORS® legal team offers essential information on changes to Virginia home inspector regulations. Effective July 1, 2017, Virginia home inspectors must be licensed.

The Virginia REALTORS® legal team reviews home surveillance and offers REALTORS® updates on what to know to stay on the right side of risk compliance.