In Michigan, you soon will. Michigan Association of Realtors felt the consumer was being misled about

the duties they thought their real estate agent would do and what they actually agreed to with a

limited services contract.

Currently, The State of Michigan is in the process of passing a NEW LAW requiring agents to tell

their sellers what they will and will not do for them in the process of listing and selling their home. 

Basically, this new law will require a mutual disclosure document

be signed by all parties that details what the agent will not be

doing for them.  In other words, if you are a limited services real

estate company, you must disclose this and have your sellers sign

a document that they realize you will not be doing the following:

--Acceptance of delivery and presentation of offers and counteroffers to buy, sell, or
lease your property or the property you seek to purchase or lease. ______ ______

--Assistance in developing, communicating, negotiating, and presenting offers,
counteroffers, and related documents or notices until a purchase or lease agreement
is executed by all parties and all contingencies are satisfied or waived. ______ ______

--After execution of a purchase agreement by all parties, assistance as necessary to
complete the transaction under the terms specified in the purchase agreement. ______ ______

You can read more about the bills that have passed both House & Senate to wait for

Governor Granholm's pen.

Agency Responsibility Act Passes Legislature: Heads to the Governor's desk for Signature

The Michigan legislature passed one of the MAR's top industry priorities last week. The Agency Responsibility Act (ARA) passed through both the House and Senate chambers and is on it's way to the Governor's desk for her signature. The passage of the ARA bills is a huge accomplishment for the MAR, and its success has been years in the making.

The ARA legislation (House Bills 4416 and 4417 ) is a product of a MAR Public Policy Task Force assigned with the task to provide a framework for consumer protection to all individuals entering into an exclusive agency relationship. As a regulated industry, there is an expectation from consumers that laws have been established to protect them from brokers that would take advantage of them. The ARA model clearly define those basic duties and services owed under an exclusive agency agreement and provides for a uniform state wide disclosure form when the consumer and broker choose to waive any of those services. Once enacted into law, the implementation date for revised agency disclosure form as well as the check-off waiver is July of this year. The MAR has already started the process to update the forms.

Representative Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) and Representative Barb Farrah (D-Southgate) introduced the two-bill bipartisan package on behalf of the real estate community. The MAR Public Policy team met with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle to stress the importance of passing the bills in order to promote homeownership while keeping industry standards high. The hope is that the Governor will sign the legislation in the coming weeks.

If your real estate company just puts a sign in the yard, lists the property on the MLS and expects

the seller to  take it from there........in the near future you have to get it in writing that the seller

understands you will not be doing the "normal" actions the public expects from it's real estate

service providers.

We are and always have been a  full service real estate service provider in the state of Michigan.

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