It is not uncommon for real estate agents and/or their principals to find themselves in a situation where it would be useful to send a letter to another agent or principal in a transaction. This is different from those situations where a form is needed, though goodness knows there are plenty of those. One might, for example, want to send a letter explaining why it is important that the other party complete and sign a certain form. There is no form for that.
Often, though, both agents and principals may feel, correctly, that they are not up to the task of stating things in the right manner. They would really like to have the letter written by a lawyer. But, as is also often the case, no one wants to pay for a lawyer to write the letter. How nice it would be, then, to have a template of a letter to use in such a situation.
The legal department of the California Association of Realtors® (CAR) has now made available to its members a "library" of letter templates that can be used in a variety of common situations. This library was recently added to the widely-used Zip Forms application that is available to all California Realtors®. The library currently consists of 24 letters, distributed over five different categories. Each category designates a party who would be sending the letter. The categories are: Property Manager, Buyer, Seller, Selling (Buyer's) Agent, and Listing Agent.
Among the seven letters in the Property Manager category is a letter seeking access to the property. This would be sent to a tenant. There is also a letter regarding abandoned property. One letter in the property manager category that comes close to being a form is a letter informing a tenant of the disposition of the security deposit. Among other things it provides for the itemization of expenses in connection with any repair or replacement work that was needed.
The category containing the most letters is that of the buyer's agent. Some of these have to do with actions, or failure to act, on the part of the principals; but others are related to agent-to-agent matters. There is, for example, a letter demanding that an offer be presented. It includes a portion where the buyer's agent can detail his attempts to communicate with the listing agent. There is also an agent-to-agent letter that is intended to be used in a situation where the commission to the buyer's agent has been reduced -- without his agreement (e.g. in a counteroffer) -- from the amount offered in the MLS.
Curiously, perhaps, the seller category contains only one letter. It is a demand on the buyer to release the deposit to the seller when the buyer has failed to close for reasons not covered by contract contingencies.
One of the more unusual letters in the buyer category -- though certainly one that could often be appropriate -- is a demand for compensation (from the seller to the buyer) after escrow has closed. Among the situations where such a letter might be appropriate: the seller did not remove all debris from the premises, the seller did not maintain the property as he was contractually obligated to do, the seller did not perform agreed-upon repairs in a proper manner, and etc. The list goes on.
In the instructions for using these letters CAR makes clear that they do not constitute legal advice, nor does CAR know if they are indeed appropriate for use in the particular situation or transaction for which they are being contemplated. Agents are advised to discuss such matters with their broker, office manager, or company counsel before using the letter. Not all agents will do this, of course; and so the templates will sometimes be misused. But such things happen, as they do now when agents take it upon themselves to compose their own letters. Probably the best advice that can be given is to brokers and managers, urging them to set their own office policies as to how and when agents may use these letter templates.
Published: January 22, 2013
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