GRRA - Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association, Inc.

From May 27, 2009 Report:

NEWS FROM NAR MID-YEAR MEETINGS:

WWW.REALTORSFCU.ORG

The REALTORS® Credit Union is now open and is a virtual Credit Union.  Go to the web address above to sign-up.  Benefits and highlights include:

 

·    RFCU’s services include money market savings accounts, no-fee eChecking with debit cards, personal loans & credit lines, real estate loans & credit lines, share certificates, access to thousands of CO-OP Network and CU24 Networks surcharge-free ATMs nationwide, 24-hour online account access, and 24-hour Member Care that offers friendly service and trusted advice.

·    100% virtual credit union, no brick and mortar branches. RFCU provides the same key services members receive at a walk-in or drive-through branch, providing members 24-hour access by phone or computer from any computer, anywhere.

·    Financially advantageous for members, RFCU offers competitive interest rates on both savings and lending.

·    Owned by its members and directed by an elected volunteer board, RFCU earnings accrue to the benefit of the credit union’s members, not stockholders.

·    RFCU is sensitive to the work habits and lifestyles of real estate professionals, most of whom are independent contractors, and designed customized products and services to meet their unique financial and cash flow needs.

·    Federal credit unions are regulated and insured by an independent federal agency, the National Credit Union Administration. Funds at credit unions are federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.

·    As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, RFUC offers members real partnership built through a unique understanding, common goals, and innovative solutions.

·    U.S.-based Member Care provides 24-hour support by phone or online.

·    Visitwww.REALTORSfcu.org for updates about exciting developments planned for the future.

 

CHANGES TO CODE, MLS POLICY:

  ARTICLE 15: 

     False and misleading statements. Standard of Practice 15-2 was amended and a new Standard of Practice was approved to strengthen members’ obligations to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, including in use of social media tools.

     The new amendment includes the duty to publish a clarification about, or to remove statements made by, others on electronic media the REALTOR® controls once the REALTOR® knows the statement is false or misleading. For example, if you’re publishing a blog and someone posts a false or misleading comment about a fellow REALTOR® on it, it’s your duty to remove the post or publish a clarification when you become aware of it.

     Separately, the board approved a change to the NAR Bylaws, imposing the same duties on associations and MLSs as on members to not make false or misleading statements against competitors, competitors’ business practices, or competitors’ companies.

  ARTICLE 11

     Land brokerage. Article 11 was amended to include land brokerage among the specialties that members should refrain practicing without training. (This change must be approved by the NAR Delegate Body in November.)

  ARTICLE 3

     Compensation for cooperating brokers. Standard of Practice 3-2 was amended to establish a clear definitional marker of the point in time at which a listing broker’s offer of cooperative compensation is accepted. Any change in the compensation offered must be communicated to the cooperating REALTOR® before the REALTOR® submits an offer to purchase or lease the property.

  ARTICLE 16

     Brokerage contracts. Standard of Practice 16-20 was amended to clarify that if a REALTOR®’s relationship with his or her brokerage is terminated, he or she can’t take any action to induce clients to cancel exclusive contractual agreements with the brokerage, regardless of who terminates the relationship.

  SHORT SALE COMMISSION REDUCTION:

     Short sale commission reductions. The board gave MLSs the discretion of whether to permit participants to communicate to each other how any reduction in the gross commission established in the listing contract by the lender, as a condition of approving a short sale, will be apportioned between the listing and cooperating participants.

     Short sale definition. The board added the following definition of a short sale to the Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy: "a transaction where title transfers, where the sale price is insufficient to pay the total of all liens and costs of sale and where the seller does not bring sufficient liquid assets to the closing to cure all deficiencies."

  MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE SEARCH ENGINE INDEXING

     A proposal to change IDX policy to permit search engine indexing of listings was referred back to a work group of the MLS Policy Committee currently reviewing the IDX rules with an eye toward updating them. The proposal, which had been approved by the NAR Executive Committee a day earlier, came after an Indianapolis REALTOR® was asked to stop Google from indexing listings from her IDX feed. The request from her board was based on an IDX rule that requires participants to protect IDX information from misappropriation by “employing reasonable efforts to monitor and prevent scraping” of the data. The member, Paula Henry, argued that indexing by search engines was not the same as scraping, and the MLS Policy Committee and Executive Committee had agreed. An NAR director from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS®, while not going on record to oppose the change in IDX policy asked that members have time to review the proposed change before a board vote. The proposal will now go to a work group that was formed to consider other changes to bring IDX in line with new virtual office Web site rules.

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