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Ombuds/Conciliation/Mediation |
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The BH/GLAAR Dispute Resolution Program
Have you or your clients tried the new dispute resolution program available from the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of REALTORS®? In the first five months of the new program, over 40 members of the public and members of the Association sought The Rosenthal Group for advice, conciliation and mediation services, courtesy of the Association of REALTORS®
There are many reasons that members and their clients are using this program’s services. See if you have run into any of the following: - Your client is having a dispute with the other party in their transaction and want to cancel but the other party will not sign cancellation instructions. They ask you what to do or who to talk to about the mediation provisions in the contract. What do you tell them?
- Your client wants the other party to release their earnest money deposit and the seller refuses. What do you tell them when they ask what to do?
- A member of the public is furious and threatens to file a DRE complaint or a lawsuit if their agent doesn’t meet their demands. Their demands are not reasonable and you have done your job professionally. Who can you contact to resolve this problem?
- You feel that another agent has interfered with your relationship with a client. You want to know what your options are with regards to a claim for commissions and a complaint about their behavior. How do you find out what to do or who to call?
- One of your sales associates wants to file arbitration over a commission and you don’t think they have a good case. How do you get someone to review the matter and explain his or her situation to them?
- One of your sales associates gets into a dispute with another office that is not a member of your Association of REALTORS®. How do you find out how to proceed with your complaint? What are your options?
These are but a few of the matters that have been discussed with The Rosenthal Group, under the new Association program. If you, someone in your office or a client becomes involved in any type of real estate dispute, you are entitled to a variety of services.
First, you can receive up to a half hour consultation under the Ombuds Program. This informal conversation is designed to analyze the situation and review all of the options open to you or your client. Often a plan of action is developed for you or your client and then additional conversations occur as the plan is implemented.
Next, you can request assistance in contacting the other party under the Conciliation Program. The contact will be informal with the goal of determining if the other party is interested in trying to find a mutual acceptable s olution to the disagreement. You will receive up to an hour of assistance and if things are going well and progress is being made, you and the other party can ask that the conciliation continue, at the professional’s normal hourly rate.
Lastly, in disputes between members over commission entitlements or other matters arising from professional activities, you are entitled to two hours of Professional Mediation Services. You will have to file a formal complaint request for arbitration under the REALTOR® Professional Standards Rules. Then you will be entitled to request professional mediation before proceeding with the arbitration. If at the end of two hours, things are going well and progress is being made, you and the other party can agree to have the mediation continue at the mediator’s regular hourly rate.
The Rosenthal Group has developed this program for the BHGLAAR, as a part of the Association’s Professional Standards Program. Richard J. Rosenthal, CRE, CRB, GRI has taken the knowledge and experience of 30 years in the Real Estate and Property Management business and coupled it with almost a decade of intense training and experience in the dispute resolution field, to become one of a handful of accomplished dispute resolvers specializing in the resolution of Real Estate and Real Property matters. He currently is an active dispute resolver with state and local REALTOR® associations. The L.A. Superior Court; The National Association of Security Dealers; The L.A. County Bar Association ‘Attorney/Client Fee Dispute Panel’; and the Squaretrade Online e-commerce Panel (E-bay, Onvia, etc.) In addition to establishing his private practice to provide these services to clients, he has continued to innovate new ideas to improve the tools available to the industry for the civilized resolution of real estate problems and disputes.
Please direct all ethics and arbitration inquiries to:
Linda Conaway
Professional Standards Coordinator
800/446-3646
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