Q2 2016: Agency, PCD, RESPA, DPTA/Fraud, Section 1031 E

This edition of the quarterly report analyzes legal trends in risk management areas that effect real estate professionals: Agency, PCD, RESPA, DPTA/Fraud, Section 1031 Exchanges and Ethics.

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In This Issue

Short on time? Here’s an overview of the developments covered in the Legal Pulse Newsletter for the second quarter of 2016. This summary covers Agency, Property Condition Disclosure, RESPA, Deceptive Trade Practices Act/Fraud, Section 1031 Exchanges, and Ethics issues.

The video edition of the quarterly report analyzes legal trends in risk management areas that effect real estate professionals: Agency, PCD, RESPA, DPTA/Fraud, Section 1031 Exchanges and Ethics.

In several of the cases discussed below, the court considered the extent to which a broker or seller was liable for the acts of a licensee. Generally speaking, a broker is liable for all of the licensee’s conduct within the scope of the agency relationship. In two cases this quarter, both from California, a party was found vicariously liable for another’s conduct. In one of these...

A. Cases

Most of the cases below involve allegations of the licensee’s failure to disclose water intrusion or damage. In one of those cases, the court found that the licensee could be held liable if he or she had knowledge of the water problems. Interestingly, two of the cases discussed below involve allegations against a seller who was also a licensee.

1. Li-...

A. Cases

Although many RESPA cases this quarter asserted claims based on alleged kickback or payment schemes, the cases failed to describe the schemes in detail and many of the cases were dismissed. In a case from California federal court, the court examined whether an individual who was not a signatory to the promissory note could be considered a “borrower” under...

A. Cases

In the fraud/Deceptive Trade Practices Act cases from this quarter, the courts considered a variety of alleged fraudulent misrepresentations by licensees, including the failure to disclose moisture problems and statements regarding the licensee’s influence with local public authorities, the valuation and prospects of investment property, and the timing of the...

A. Cases

A Section 1031 exchange is a transaction in which a person sells real property and exchanges the original property for a similar replacement property to avoid the immediate tax consequences of that sale. Over the past year, we retrieved only one case involving licensees and Section 1031 exchanges that was previously discussed in an earlier edition of ...