LEGAL
The business of real estate is – unlike the vast majority of other businesses – totally regulated by laws. Even though the majority of these laws are created by Federal and State Governments, one cannot ignore the rules and ordinances created by counties, cities and towns on local levels. The purpose of ALL these laws are to protect the public from fraud, dishonesty and incompetence. One certainly can question whether or not the intended protection effectively is working, or if it is a setback for the public, in order to sell and purchase real estate.
Even though all states have enacted license laws, there are significant differences on state levels. As an example, a “transactional broker” is illegal in the State of South Carolina. A recommendation by South Carolina Real Estate Commission to legalize this form of brokerage was supposed to be decided by the legislators during “the 2011 spring session”. Unfortunately it has been postponed to some time in 2012. In reality, this form of brokerage would treat everybody involved in a real estate transaction equally, rather than favor one party over another. Quite frankly, some people believe that this change would eliminate discrimination and even prevent frivolous lawsuits.
Our company believes that ALL laws must be strictly followed, regardless of personal opinions. Consequently, until the legislators make a decision on any change, we must deal and fully cooperate with existing laws. The question is whether or not the “professionals” in real estate are educated to understand the meaning and interpretation of ALL laws. The old saying: “One should not fool around with somebody else’s profession” is always true.
In order to become a lawyer, substantial schooling is a necessity. After graduation from college, several years in law school are required, and in addition, the lawyer will have to pass a State exam prior to doing business. In spite of this, Professional lawyers cannot, quite often, agree on the meaning of the laws. A good example of this is our 200+ years old Constitution. Almost weekly, on the news, one can hear of the disagreements, and it is getting more and more common that the United States Supreme Court will have to make the final interpretation. Not even that Court can get a unanimous ruling. IN ORDER TO GET A REAL ESTATE LICENSE, A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR EQUIVALENT EDUCATION IS REQUIRED, and yet, the entire business is built around legal agreements and contracts, which is way out of the knowledge of most licensees, including the Broker-in-Charge. Does that make sense?
The employees of our company are not, and do not have any interest in becoming legal scholars, and we will leave all legal questions up to the people properly educated in this area. Our advice is: CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY. After all – in most cases – your cost is just a very small fraction of a percent of your purchase price or investment. However, a consumer needs to be careful, even with the attorneys, as South Carolina allows one lawyer to represent both seller and buyer in the same transaction. Some people are concerned about this, “conflict of interest”.
After almost 50 years of domestic and International marketing, I have never been sued, but I sure have developed a lot of friends. There is nothing I enjoy more than my profession, and as a result, I decided – at old age – to make a few more friends by getting involved with the business of Real Estate. I totally understand that I, and all employees of our company, must accept and deal with existing laws and regulations, but I also hope that our business contacts will accept our limitations related to legal questions. Quite frankly, HONESTY, DECENCY AND COMMON SENSE go a long way in building business relationships and friends.
Finally, if you have any “secrets” or “confidential information”, please keep it to yourself and NEVER share it with any of our employees.
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