hotline

3-Fold Spike in Questions On
Legal Forms So Far in 2016

First, a caveat:  when your broker is Edina Realty, you don’t NEED to call the Minnesota Association of Realtors’ Legal Hotline (frankly, I didn’t even know it existed until last week).

That’s because Edina Realty has three, terrific(!) in-house counsel** available to field agents’ questions and keep them out of trouble — thereby avoiding the need to help agents get out of trouble, after-the-fact.

Audience:  Small(er) Brokers With No In-House Legal

Excluding Edina Realty agents, then, guess the likely explanation(s) for a 3-fold spike in questions to the Legal Hotline so far this year regarding the legal forms included in a typical residential sale (Purchase Agreement, Financing Addendum, Inspection Contingency, etc.):

A.  A 2015 change to the forms (re: Seller home warranties) is tripping up agents.
B. The 2016 Twin Cities housing market has been especially busy; more deals = more issues/questions.
C. More newcomers are entering the business, who are learning on the job (“heads up” to their clients!).
D. All of the above.

Answer:  “D.”

**Any lawyer can speak legalese.  Mark Christopherson, CJ Deike and Ed Kaiser are experts in legalese, but speak English (much harder to do).

See also, “What If There Were No Hypothetical Questions?”  (No, Really); and “Practicing an Ounce of (Legal) Prevention.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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