Real Estate Forms Revisions 2010
More than 80 real estate forms are in the process of being revised. Most changes relate to the new vernacular required by the amendments to RCW 18.85 (effective July 1, 2010) and are not substantive. However, some of the changes to the listing agreements, the buyer representation agreements, and the purchase and sale agreements are substantive changes. Other substantive changes to the forms include revisions to the financing forms, the short sale forms, the septic and well forms, the optional clauses form, and the seller financing form. The substantive changes to the forms are fully explained in Legal Bulletin 187.
XPress Form Users:
Revised forms will be available on Xpress Forms on July 1, 2010. Beginning July 1st, you should use the new forms and recycle any copies of the prior version of the forms. You should not, however, replace any existing agreements with the new forms or use the new forms prior to July 1st.
ZipForm Users:
Most forms with substantive changes will be available on July 1. However, many forms with changes such as changing the word "agent" to "broker" will not be available until later in July. Revised forms will continue to be released on ZipForms throughout the month of July. ZipForm users should continue to use their existing forms only if the revised form is not available.
DOL / RE Commission revise rules that concern industry
The new RE license law rules are effective July 1, 2010. Upon publication of the rules, members of the real estate community raised some concerns regarding certain aspects of the rules. The DOL and the RE Commission heard the concerns of the real estate industry and modified several new rules regarding advertising, the delivery of client funds and instruments, and the responsibilities of all licensees. DOL has recently issued a Q&A to help explain those modifications. Read the Revised Rules Q&A.
Read this second Q&A concerning the delivery of transaction and brokerage service documents.
You can also read the Revised Rules on the DOL website.
