North Carolina address "Preferred Partner Programs"

[Jeffery L. Haynes]

In a letter dated March 10th sent out to all licensee's, the NCHILB has stated that any program where by RE offices are giving preferential treatment to any HI's is a violation of the NCHILB Code of Ethics Rule 11 NCAC 08.1116(e) and as such beginning May 1, 2010 investigations will be conducted on any license who is believed to be involved in such programs. Any licensee that if found to be in violation can be subject to disciplinary actions ranging from probationary periods to revocation of their license.

HI's who are involved in such programs must terminate these arrangements immediately.


With all that said, if the state truly wants to address the problem then they will address where it starts........ with the Realtors themselves.....however I don't see that happening any time soon.

Jeff

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jhaynes

In a letter dated March 10th sent out to all licensee's, the NCHILB has stated that any program where by RE offices are giving preferential treatment to any HI's is a violation of the NCHILB Code of Ethics Rule 11 NCAC 08.1116(e) and as such beginning May 1, 2010 investigations will be conducted on any license who is believed to be involved in such programs. Any licensee that if found to be in violation can be subject to disciplinary actions ranging from probationary periods to revocation of their license.

HI's who are involved in such programs must terminate these arrangements immediately.


With all that said, if the state truly wants to address the problem then they will address where it starts........ with the Realtors themselves.....however I don't see that happening any time soon.

Jeff

WOW!!! Great to see someone sees that the preferred vendor fee is just legal extortion and not to be tolerated in a society supposedly based on honesty and fairness.

[Nick Gromicko]

Paragraph 2 of Agent Duty.

[Bruce A. King]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Paragraph 2 of Agent Duty.

Nick, part of that can be frequently incorrect. Around here some of the more expensive inspectors are patty cake inspectors that report very little of the issues with the houses. They get massive amounts of realtor referrals, argue heavily with the upset clients and pay just enough of them to go away that the state never knows how many clients they ripped off. This is the unwritten rule, the inspector who gets lots of referrals has to pay to keep everyone out of court. The cycle continues and never stops because the majority of the buyers don't know the whole story and formal complaints rarely get filed. I run into realtors all the time that have never before seen a report on a properly inspected house. Some of these have been in the business for over 20 years.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by bking

Nick, part of that can be frequently incorrect. Around here some of the more expensive inspectors are patty cake inspectors that report very little of the issues with the houses. They get massive amounts of realtor referrals, argue heavily with the upset clients and pay just enough of them to go away that the state never knows how many clients they ripped off. This is the unwritten rule, the inspector who gets lots of referrals has to pay to keep everyone out of court. The cycle continues and never stops because the majority of the buyers don't know the whole story and formal complaints rarely get filed. I run into realtors all the time that have never before seen a report on a properly inspected house. Some of these have been in the business for over 20 years.

If you have names and proof, email me. Several television stations throughout the US are doing consumer news alerts on this practice. We can turn the lights on and shake things up, if you want to.

[Gary Farnsworth]

Around KS/MO, usually it is the high-priced home inspection companies paying these fees to offices/agents. It is normal practice. And it is normal business practice in every company you can think of. Grocery stores get fees from food companies for shelf space. On, and on. Where the conflicts arise is where you can rebate the one who pays you, but you cannot rebate a third party. FTC rules are clear on this issue. However, as in most industries, if there are no complaints, there are no investigations.

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Actually Gary - In KC I've found it to be the low-ball inspectors doing this.

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