While licensees are the lifeblood of any brokerage, they also pose the greatest risk. Inexperienced licensees may lack education and training in key areas, leading them to make innocent mistakes, unintentionally provide misinformation, or fail to make appropriate disclosures. Experienced licensees can sometimes act beyond the scope of their license or expertise. In trying to be helpful, they can put the qualifying broker's license at risk. And unfortunately, some licensees intentionally misrepresent and commit acts of fraud. Appropriate supervision is an Alabama qualifying broker's best risk management strategy, and it's also a requirement of the role. This course will cover the broker's role in supervising licensees and employees, including creating and communicating policies and procedures for approved activities.

This three-hour course reduces risk to consumers by ensuring that Alabama licensees and employees are properly trained and supervised by a qualifying broker.

Course highlights include:

• An overview of the supervisory responsibilities of an Alabama qualifying broker, including licensee and staff training, record keeping duties, and financing requirements.
• A discussion of the proper use of various forms of marketing and advertising.
• An examination of the proper handling of earnest money.
• A review of property management licensing requirements and trust fund management.
• A look at the requirements for licensee-owned properties
• Interactive activities and scenarios to seal in the new information and frame it in everyday context

How many times will you be required to review agency disclosure rules? As many times as it takes until it’s no longer one of the top reasons for consumer complaints against licensees (which it is). Alabama license law provides a firm foundation for a successful real estate practice, so this course focuses on key tenets of that law, including the Real Estate Consumers Agency and Disclosure Act (RECAD). In addition to reviewing RECAD, this course provides a breakdown of issues that consistently trip up licensees and/or confuse consumers, including advertising rules, caveat emptor, trust fund handling, and record retention.

This three-hour course provides you with a review of areas of risk from the moment of initial interaction with a consumer, and how those risks can be mitigated through proper disclosure, adherence to fiduciary duties, and a focus on utmost professionalism.

Course highlights include:

• Real Estate Consumers Agency and Disclosure Act (RECAD) disclosures
• Real Estate Brokerage Services Disclosure form
• Required duties when working with buyers, sellers, and the general public
• Proper advertising requirements
• Misrepresentation and caveat emptor
• “As is” properties
• Permitted activities of unlicensed persons when presenting properties
• Trust fund handling and record retention requirements
• Closing cost estimates
• Personal interest disclosure
• Presentation of offers and counter-offers
• Qualifying broker responsibilities and risk management practices

In this course, you’ll learn about the history of housing discrimination and its lasting impact in order to better understand why fair housing laws are necessary. You’ll review the federal laws that provide protection against housing discrimination and what actions are prohibited and required by these laws in the business of real estate. This will include reviewing the personal characteristics—race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability--that federal law protects from discrimination in housing. Besides these federal protections, there are state and local government fair housing laws that protect additional personal characteristics from discrimination in housing and you’ll find out where to get more fair housing information for your clients.

You’ll also learn some best practices for fair housing marketing and some strategies to avoid steering and making assumptions based on stereotypes. You’ll role play some scenarios to practice interrupting any implicit biases so that consumers are treated with equal concern, respect, and fairness. By allowing consumers to choose which communities/neighborhoods they want to live in, you can do your part to uphold fair housing laws and end housing discrimination.

This course was designed to meet the REALTOR® Fair Housing Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Fair Housing training, will accept this course.

There’s a reason real estate agents often rank among the least trusted professionals in the U.S. But what can you do to improve the public’s perception? And what should you do when you run into an ethical dilemma or into a licensee who’s not behaving ethically? As a real estate professional, you can help raise the bar and improve the reputation of the industry. You can lead by example.

Aligned to the requirements of the current NAR cycle, this course will empower you to recognize and respond to ethical dilemmas, inspiring consumer confidence. For answers to ethical dilemmas, we’ll look to several articles of the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, and draw from real-life ethical scenarios. In three short hours, you’ll be better prepared to exemplify the professionalism and cooperation that’s the true foundation of the real estate industry.

Course highlights include:

• Meets both regular ethics renewal requirements and new licensee ethics course requirements
• The importance of ethical behavior in NAR members and non-members alike, fostering a spirit of cooperation
• History and evolution of the Code, the preamble, and the Code’s influence on state licensing laws
• Structure of the Code
• Review and application of articles 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, 15, and 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
• Case studies of real-life ethical challenges
• Mediation and arbitration, with arbitration as the monetary dispute resolution process between REALTORS®
• Application of Article 17 of the NAR Code of Ethics to the complaints and hearing process
• Grievance committee vs. professional standards committee
• Best practices for demonstrating ethical behavior every day

*This course was designed by us to meet the REALTOR® Code of Ethics Training Requirement. Please confirm that your local association, who administers the Code of Ethics training, will accept this course.

The inspection period is a big hurdle to jump over on the way to closing. The inspector’s job is to call out defects. The buyer agent’s job is to negotiate repairs. The seller agent’s job is to mitigate damage. It can sometimes be hard to hold a deal together.

Protecting your buyer as a buyer’s agent means understanding the importance of the home inspection contingency and its deadlines, and identifying the need for specialized inspections.

Protecting your seller as the listing agent means helping the seller understand disclosure obligations, prepare for the inspection, and respond to a buyer’s reasonable repair requests.

Course highlights:

• The importance of the inspection contingency
• The licensee’s role in the inspection process
• Licensee and seller disclosure obligations
• Red flags related to common structural, plumbing, and electrical issues
• Specialized inspection types addressing radon, asbestos, sewer lines, septic tanks, mold, lead, and wells
• Interactive activities and scenarios