LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Real Estate Brokerage Regulatory Updates - 9/20/16 NYS Board of Real Estate meeting summary


On 9/20/16 the NYS Board of Real Estate continued its mission of optimizing the regulation of real estate brokers in our state by holding its meeting in NYC and Albany. To remind real estate brokers and salespersons, the public is welcome at these meetings where the public can bring comments from the floor. It's encouraged that Lieb School students attend these meetings to have your voices heard. 

"[T]he Board has general authority to promulgate rules and regulations affecting real estate brokers and salespersons in order to administer and effectuate the purposes of Article 12-A of the Real Property Law."

A complete video of the meeting is available on youtube.

In summary, the following was discussed:
  1. The partnership between the Department of State and the Division of Human Rights to enforce fair housing laws; 
  2. The new agency disclosure continuing education requirements as signed by the Governor into law earlier this month; 
  3. Diversity being an approved topic for continuing education;
  4. Notice of regulatory changes for the following topics will appear on the state register for 45 day comment period on 9/28/16: 19 NYCRR 175.1 (escrow and how much time can be held before deposited), 19 NYCRR 175.7 (consent of parties), 19 NYCRR 176.3 (license safety course and reduction in hours to property insurance course), 19 NYCRR 177.3 (allows training modules to be 1 hour rather than 3), 19 NYCRR 177.7 (allows the computating the computation from 60 to 50 minutes), and 19 NYCRR 175.25 (advertisements of business cards that license type be listed as a clarification); and
  5. Changing point allocation for acting as listing agent and selling agent.
Of note, no quorum existed so no votes were taken. The next meeting is expected in January 2017. 


Real Estate Brokerage - Major Change to Continuing Education Requirements - Agency Disclosure REQUIRED

On September 9, 2016 Governor Cuomo signed into law a major change to the continuing education requirements for real estate brokers, associate real estate brokers and real estate salespersons.

The new requirement reads as follows:
"[A]t least one hour of instruction pertaining to the law of agency except in the case of the initial two-year licensing term for real estate salespersons, two hours of agency related instruction must be completed"

This act takes effect on January 1, 2017.

The stated purpose of the Bill is:
"The bill amends the real property law to require two hours of agency related coursework in the licensee's initial two-year licensing term as part of the 22 1/2 hours of continuing education required for renewal of a real estate license in New York. In subsequent license terms one hour of agency related coursework will be required."

The justification for the Bill is:
"Understanding the agency relationship created between buyers/sellers, landlords/tenants and the real estate professional representing them during the real estate transaction is essential.

There are many real estate professionals and consumers who are often confused by the agency relationships created during the real estate transaction. At various points in time there may be several different agency relationships created, terminated or changed from first encounter to the closing table. Understanding what fiduciary duties are owed, the proper use of the agency disclosure form, and the ability to successfully represent clients in various forms of agency relationships such as buyer/tenant agency, seller/landlord agency and dual agency are critical for consumer protection."

Fulfill the requirement at Lieb School with our Agency Disclosure ONLINE course TODAY

Monday, September 19, 2016

RECAP: Eye On Real Estate with Andrew Lieb as Guest 9/17/16

Andrew Matthew Lieb was a guest on Eye on Real Estate this past weekend. Topics include: Pet Policies & Discrimination, Fair Housing, Airbnb, updates to the NY housing market, fiduciary duties of real estate agents, how to find who owns a property in NY and more...

To listen to the podcast, click here