远离披露通知

Here’s some risk-management advice that might su弹性分组环ise you: Real estate agents should not help 卖家 fill out the 卖方披露通知. Agents who do increase their liability—and their broker’s liability—in lawsuits.

The majority of residential real estate lawsuits involve the buyer bringing a claim against the seller. Other participants who often get pulled into a buyer’s claim are the listing agent/broker, 买方代理人/经纪人, 检查员. The claim often boils down to some form of misrepresentation about the condition of the property.

When 买家 sue alleging fraud, they must prove all of the following:

• 卖方作了重大的虚假陈述.
• The seller knew it was false or made it recklessly as a positive assertion without any knowledge of its truth.
• The seller intended to induce the buyer to act upon the representation.
• The buyer relied on the representation that caused the injury.

为了在法庭上获胜, the buyer must prove the party made a material statement that was false. In layman’s terms, the 买家 have to prove that they were lied to. The most frequent evidence on which 买家 base their fraud claims are the 卖方披露通知, 代理营销材料, 和美国职业足球大联盟声明.

The 卖方披露通知 is the document that contains most, 如果不是全部, of the seller’s representations about the property’s condition. 因为这个原因, I encourage agents to think about the 卖方披露通知 as the Seller’s Representation List, 因为这是卖方的陈述清单, 不是代理人. Agents should not take any actions or make any statements that would allow anyone to argue that the 卖方披露通知 is the agent’s own disclosure—卖家 must complete it on their own.

如果你坚持帮卖家完成通知, please understand you are taking on extra and unnecessary liability for you and your broker.

Reasonable minds can disagree on whether agents should check the notice for accuracy. 我2021十大正规彩票app检查完整性, 不准确性, because checking for accuracy may increase the agent’s liability. One last point: Agents who list their own properties through their broker should check to see if their E&O policy covers agent-owned listings for claims of seller misrepresentation. 许多保单将代理拥有的房源排除在保险范围之外.