REINCheck

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Voiceover [00:00:06] You're listening to REINCheck with Andrea Rice, Contracts and Industry specialist at REIN, where you get the latest member news and information delivered straight from the source REIN MLS.

Andrea Rice [00:00:26] Hello and welcome to REINCheck. I am your host, Andrea Rice, and today I wanted to tackle one of the questions that I get quite a bit about using REIN forms. So, the question usually goes a little something like this "Can I, as a REIN member, give the REIN contract listing agreement, etc. to my friend who is a non-REIN member who is doing it for sale by owner," or "I used to be a REIN member. Can I still use those REIN forms I have laying around now that I'm selling my house on my own as a non-agent?" Or "Can I as a REIN member with access to the REIN forms, give copies to my friend, mother, brother, sisters, cousins, former roommate?" You get the idea and the answer to all of these questions is no. Sorry, but no. Let me explain. Let's start with REIN's Rules and Regulations document, which covers this topic in section 5.5.2. Right To Use. This rule, states in general that broker members and their licensees shall use REIN forms only in transactions in which the broker member is the listing broker and the broker members, licensees and administrative personnel shall not provide REIN contracts and forms to any nonmember or use by the nonmember or for use for any other purposes. And you can access this complete rule in its entirety and the rules and regulations document on REINMLS.com. The rules document also covers form topics such as copyright of REIN forms, altering contracts and forms, and using REIN forms with non-approved vendors in fines for violations. So that's the rule. But now you may be asking yourself why, who cares? And to that I say: we should all care. Here are some reasons why. REIN has a sales manager's advisory committee and a property managers advisory committee comprised of area sales managers, REIN staff and local attorneys who meet monthly to review and update REIN forms and to keep them in compliance with Virginia law providing contracts and forms to nonmembers —again, something that REIN does not allow — is likely to lead to outdated forms being in used, and using outdated forms is a legal liability for everyone involved. So now you may be thinking, Oh, okay, but I still don't really care. I'm a REIN member and I always have access to and use the most up to date REIN forms. And to that, I say good and thank you. And this is precisely why you should care about keeping REIN forms in the hands of REIN members. Only as a member paying REIN membership dues, you contribute to the time consuming and often costly process of keeping REIN forms up to date. Access to REIN forms is one of the primary benefits you receive as a REIN member. It is one of your benefits, so don't just give it away. So long story short, do not share REIN forms with non-REIN members. All REIN members have access to REIN's complete library of forms as a part of their membership with REIN. So thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to listen and to hear me explain one of the most common questions I get about using REIN forms. If you have any suggestions for our Sales Managers Advisory Committee or our Property Managers Advisory Committee, please submit them to SMAC@reininc.com. That's S M A C @reininc.com. And I will make sure that your suggestion gets on an upcoming meeting agenda. I hope you enjoyed this episode of REINCheck if you missed any of the previous episodes. I do invite you to go to REINMLS.com To take a listen. And as always, make sure you subscribe so that you can get future episodes delivered directly to your email when they are released. Thank you and have a great rest of your day.

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Voiceover [00:04:50] You've been listening to rain check with Andrea Rice stay in the know from those who know delivered straight from the source REIN MLS.

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