Lesson 3: Listing Regulations Flashcards
foreclosure consultant service agreement
The agreement will disclose the specific services the consultant will perform. It also discloses the amount and terms of the compensation the consultant will receive. The disclosure must also state that the homeowner may cancel the agreement within five business days of receiving the disclosure.
Mortgage foreclosure consultant law
California law requires foreclosure consultants to enter into service agreements with homeowners and make certain disclosures. Real estate licensees are exempt in most situations.
Fair Housing Act
The federal Fair Housing Act was originally enacted in 1968, and it has been amended a number of times since then.
It is designed to make housing available to everybody regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or any disabilities.
blockbusting
Blockbusting is also known as panic selling.
It occurs whenever someone tries to induce homeowners to list their homes by predicting that members of another race or any other protected group are moving into the neighborhood, and that this will have a negative impact on the neighborhood.
The blockbuster profits either by purchasing the properties at reduced prices or by collecting commissions on the induced sales.
Blockbusters have used a variety of techniques to scare homeowners into listing their properties, including the following examples:
Passing out flyers saying that a member of a minority group has purchased a home nearby.
Calling homeowners and then pretending it’s a wrong number, saying that the caller was “trying to reach the immigrant family that just moved in.”
Buying a home in the neighborhood and then selling it to a minority buyer in order to frighten neighbors into selling their homes.
steering
leading a client or customer away or towards a specific neighborhood based on race, or another protected characteristic in order to change or maintain the character of those neighborhoods
redlining
Redlining occurs when a lender refuses to make a mortgage loan because of the predominant race (or national origin, or any other protected class) of the neighborhood in which the home is located.
For example, it’s illegal for a lender to refuse to make a home loan just because the home the applicant wants to buy is located in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood.
rumford act
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (also known as the Rumford Act) makes it unlawful for any property owner, real estate agent, or business establishment to discriminate in the selling or leasing of housing.
It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, or genetic information.
Holden Act
Another state law you should be familiar with is the Housing Financial Discrimination Act, also known as the Holden Act.
Under this law, a lender must make a lending decision based on the merits of the borrower and the security property, rather than on the property’s neighborhood or location.
Americans with Disabilities Act
There’s one more key antidiscrimination law that you should be familiar with: the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
The ADA is a federal law that protects disabled persons, a category defined to include anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
The act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in places of public accommodation (places owned by a private entity and open to the public), as well as in other commercial facilities.
Unruh Civil Rights Act
The Unruh Civil Rights Act is a state law that prohibits business establishments from discriminating based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, and immigration status.
Also, the Unruh Act prohibits age discrimination in transactions involving housing.
Violators may have to pay actual damages, as well as attorney’s fees.
Sherman act
The Sherman Act is a federal antitrust law that prohibits any agreement that creates an unreasonable restraint of trade, including price fixing, group boycotts, tie-in arrangements, and market allocation.
price fixing
Price fixing includes pre-printing commission rates on standard forms, implying that commission rates are non-negotiable, and discussing commission rates with competing brokers.
group boycott
A formal or informal agreement between two or more real estate agents to exclude other agents from fair participation in real estate activities would be a group boycott.
The purpose of a group boycott is to ruin a competitor.
tie-in agreement
A tie-in arrangement is an agreement to sell one product only on the condition that the buyer also purchases a different product.
for example, refusing to sell a property unless the buyer agrees to use you as the listing agent when they flip
market allocation
Market allocation occurs when competing brokers agree not to sell some or all of their products or services in certain areas, or not to sell to certain customers in certain areas.
Market allocation limits competition and is illegal.
