NAR Settlement: What You Need to Know
Florida Realtors Releases New Buyer Representation Forms
NEW! Free webinar: "Buyer Representation: What You Need to Know"
Your 2024 Florida Realtors Leadership Team has seen the need for continued education on this topic – so in addition to our virtual three-hour CE course "Understanding Buyer Broker Agreements" that we are presenting, we are also hosting 90-minute webinars to help you adapt. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.
Florida Realtors releases buyer Representation forms
Florida Realtors has released four new forms — two compensation agreements and modification forms, for each compensation agreement. All are now available for download on Form Simplicity. (Login required)
These new forms aim to provide maximum flexibility to compensation arrangements in the transaction and are designed to allow the participants in a real estate transaction to memorialize compensation arrangements.
Form 1: Compensation Agreement - Seller to Buyer's Broker (CASB-1). This new form is a compensation arrangement in which the seller agrees to compensate the buyer's broker for procuring a buyer for a listed property.
Form 2: Compensation Agreement - Seller's Broker to Buyer's Broker (CABB-1). This agreement memorializes any agreement between the brokers. The seller's broker, also known as the listing broker, to compensate the buyer's broker for the listed property. This agreement is property specific, and the arrangement between the brokers should relate to the listed property, not serve as a blanket agreement between the brokerages.
Form 3: Modification to Compensation Agreement - Seller to Buyer's Broker. This form allows the parties to make changes to any material terms of the underlying compensation agreement between the seller and the buyer's broker.
Form 4: Modification to Compensation Agreement - Seller's Broker to Buyer's Broker.
NOTE: Once all our forms vendors have uploaded/published the new forms, these forms will no longer be available on our website.
Questions? Call the Florida Realtors Legal Hotline, 407-438-1409
What's next
Coming in July:
- Amended Buyer Broker Agreement
- Amended Showing Agreement
- Amended Retainer Agreement
- Modification to Buyer Broker Agreement
- Release of amended Listing Agreements and several other forms. One of those forms will address what you do with listings and buyer broker agreements that are in effect on August 17 that do not have the required language for settlement compliance.
Coming in October: Condo riders will change October 1, not July 1.
VIDEO Legal Webinar: NAR Settlement — What You Need to Know
About the settlement
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) announced a proposed $418 million settlement agreement to the Sitzer-Burnett verdict that would end litigation of claims brought by home sellers related to broker commissions.
The agreement resolves claims against NAR, more than one million NAR members, state/territorial and local Realtor® associations, all association-owned MLSs and all brokerages with an NAR member as principal that had a residential transaction volume in 2022 of $2 billion or below. However, agents affiliated with HomeServices of America and its related companies – the last corporate defendant still litigating the case – are not released under the settlement, nor are employees of the remaining corporate defendants named in the cases covered by this settlement. Click here to read the full news article.
CLICK HERE FOR LATEST NAR UPDATES
Related links & additional resources:
- Settlement fact sheet from NAR
- The Realtor to Realtor Series (podcasts): Topics include Educating Home Sellers on Brokerage Cooperation, The Road to Accepting and Adapting to Change, Helping Buyers Who Have Settlement Questions.
- Commentary: 90% of homebuyers have historically opted to work with a real estate agent or broker. Here’s why that’s unlikely to change.
- The Truth About the NAR Settlement Agreement
- Settlement Agreement Facts Toolkit (tools to help members communicate the facts of the settlement)
- Settlement Update From NAR President Kevin Sears (VIDEO)
- Correcting the Record: NAR Does Not Set Commissions
- Read the NAR news release
- Financing FAQ (PDF)
- Fostering Consumer-Friendly Real Estate Marketplaces