REALTOR® News

Money to Buyer or seller
The following is from the Illinois Association of REALTORS web page from their Legal Hot line attorney:

May a licensee offer a cash inducement to a buyer or seller?
It is not a violation of the Illinois Real Estate License Law to offer cash or another type of inducement to a party to a transaction. It is still illegal, however, to offer compensation to an unlicensed person for referring business to you. A broker must be certain that the inducement is going directly to the actual owner of the property he is listing or to the party taking title to the property. The License Law further requires that whenever a licensee advertises merchandise or services as being "free" that all conditions of the offer must appear in the ad. This means that if you place a clause in the ad saying, "call the office for further details," you may have an incomplete ad. You must place all limiting conditions of your offer in any advertising of the promotion, e.g. offer contingent on sale closing. A listing or selling office that offers an inducement to a buyer should notify the seller in writing prior to submitting an offer that the buyer will be receiving the cash or merchandise.

Escrow
We do have a release of escrow funds form. It is on the contracts page under addenda, Notice of inability to satisfy contingency and/or mutual cancellation agreement. For a direct link, go to http://www.nsbar.org/membersonly/documents/NOTICE.pdf

RESPA Violations
To report a RESPA violation, send HUD a written complaint describing the practice that you believe violates RESPA. The complaint should include the names, addresses and phone numbers of the alleged violators. HUD prefers that you also include your name and phone number in case an investigator wishes to ask further questions. You may request confidentiality. Send the complaint to:

U.S. Department of HUD
Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales
451 7th Street, SW, Room 9154
Washington, DC 20410

You can also reach HUD's RESPA division by phone at (202) 708-0502 or by e-mail at hsg-respa@hud.gov. You may also wish to send a complaint to Illinois Division of Financial Institutions of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations.

State Cracking Down on Unlawful Mortgage Brokerage Firms
Blagojevich Administration announces initial results of crackdowns on unlawful mortgage brokerage firms. Unannounced inspections net $190,750 in fines and one license suspension; On-site, unannounced inspections of mortgage firms to continue.
CHICAGO - As the result of a series of aggressive, new inspections by state regulators into mortgage lending practices, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced $190,750 in fines for 22 licensed residential mortgage offices and the suspension of one office in Oak Brook for failing to comply with state regulations. Earlier this year, the Governor ordered the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to begin a series of unannounced inspections of licensed mortgage companies in response to reports of growing instances of mortgage fraud. This sweep is the first of planned quarterly reviews of the mortgage industry to help protect homebuyers from predatory mortgage lenders.

"Buying a home should be the culmination of the American dream, not the beginning of a nightmare of fraud," said Gov. Blagojevich. "We have worked hard to pass laws to protect families from fraud and abuse. We will not tolerate activities that could harm homeowners. Now, mortgage firms are on notice that we'll be dropping-in unannounced to make sure their brokers are complying with the law."

IDFPR's investigation found that 19 mortgage firms employed 35 unregistered loan originators - individuals who process family mortgage applications. In the most egregious violation, First Star Financial Corporation, located at two locations - 361 South Frontage Road, Suite 131, Burr Ridge, and 1355 Remington Road, Suite T, Schaumburg - had 10 unregistered loan originators working in its offices, and was issued fines of $25,000 for each of the two offices employing unregistered loan originators. Residential mortgage companies employing unregistered loan originators are subject to a $2,500 fine for the first violation and $500 for each additional unregistered loan originator. Individual unregistered loan originators are subject to fines of $950 and a permanent notation on their file should they decide to seek certificates of registration in the future. IDFPR also issued an emergency suspension against Liberty Mortgage Corporation 1301 E. 22nd Street, Suite 815, Oak Brook, IL for refusing to allow its investigators access to its premises on several successive attempts. The suspension is in effect until the administrative review process is completed up to 180 days. In addition, 1st Liberty Banc, Inc. was fined $25,000 for each of the two days the company denied access to authorized state investigators.

Supra Display Keys - New Phone Number
During the month of September 2003 many of our NSBAR members attended the Supra Display Key Conversion at the Adam's Mark Hotel. During that time NSBAR members were asked to return their "old" keypad and lease the "new" Display Key, if they wished to continue using the electronic Supra system. While going through the lease process, agents were asked by Supra representatives to give their zip code. The agent's zip code was needed in order to program a local telephone number into the agent's Display Key, resulting in a successful update overnight. Some time after the conversion, calls were received by agents stating their Display Key did not update overnight. After further investigation it was suggested by Supra to change the "bad" local telephone number to a toll free 800 number for successful updating. NSBAR does not have a way to determine which phone number was programmed into your Display Key, but you can find out easily by following a few simple steps:

If you suspect your Display Key has a "bad" local telephone number programmed, you can check by following the steps below:
1. Press ENTER
2. Use the SCROLL DOWN button - press until you see the words "ESYNC PHONE NUMBER"
3. Press ENTER
4. Press "1"

The phone number programmed into your Display Key will appear. If you see an 800 number programmed into your Display Key, DO NOTHING FURTHER. If you see a local telephone number, FIRST try a MANUAL ESYNC:
1. Press ENTER
2. SCROLL DOWN until you see MANUAL ESYNC
3. Press ENTER
4. The screen will display PLACE KEY IN CRADLE
5. Put your Display Key in the Cradle
6. A red light will appear and the screen will display CONNECTING TO CRADLE.
7. Leave your Display Key in the cradle until the LIGHT TURNS GREEN.
8. A successful Manual Esync is complete when the screen displays KEY UPDATED FOR (DATE).

***If the MANUAL ESYNC FAILS, you may need to change the ESYNC PHONE NUMBER programmed into your Display Key to the toll free 800 number: 800-545-9601. If you still have trouble, please call our Northbrook Office and ask for Supra Support.

Most Expensive Zip Codes
To see how your area ranks amongst the most expensive, see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/7/Rank_1.html

Audits by the Illinois Department of Employment Security
IAR has been informed that the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) is conducting audits in Central Illinois and Chicago related to employment records and requirements under the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act. In a sample letter from IDES, the department states that: "The audit process is not a suggestion of fault or liability, but rather the attempt to ensure consistent and accurate records, ours as well as yours." IAR has provided for your information and review a sample audit letter from IDES and other documents involved in the audit. Simply click on the links to the PDF documents below or find them at www.illinoisrealtor.org, Members Only, Publications, Designated REALTOR Newsletters.

Using a name different than what is on the license
Section 1450.110 Change of Information
a) It is the responsibility of each licensee to immediately notify OBRE of any change of name, address, or office location. For example, if the licensee has had a name change either by court order or due to a change in marital status, the licensee shall notify OBRE of the name change together with a certified copy of the marriage certificate or portions of the court order relating to the name change, and indicate under which name the license shall issue. If the licensee regularly practices under a diminutive of their first name (e.g., Meg for Margaret or Mark for Mariusz or Sam for Shamim), last name or a middle name instead of the licensee's full legal name, the licensee shall notify OBRE of the alternate name. To help ensure proper credit, the licensee shall ensure that all continuing education certificates are issued under the name of licensure.

New Sales Contract is out
The Multi board 4.0 contract is now available. Printed contracts are also available at the Northbrook and Barrington Offices. The tutorial on how to fill out the contract is also available on the Contract page, just under the sales contract.

NSBAR Northbrook office
After 19 years the completely redecorated NSBAR Northbrook office should be complete by the time you read this newsletter. We want to thank all the members for your patience during "construction" and we look forward to visiting us. Thank you!

MLSNI fees reduced
MLSNI has reduced their fees and therefore your quarterly MLS fees have gone from $111.50 to $72.50. As always, NSBAR passes on all fee reductions to the members.