Real estate news

New testing vendor starts in January 2010

Starting January 2010, Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. (AMP) will schedule and conduct all real estate licensing tests. To schedule an exam, you will need to visit the AMP website, choose the “Real Estate” category, select “Washington Real Estate Examination Program,” and choose the exam you want.

Governor Gregoire appoints a new real estate commissioner

We would like to welcome our newest real estate commissioner, Kyoko Matsumoto Wright. Governor Christine Gregoire has selected the Seattle real estate agent to serve on the Washington Real Estate Commission as of October 12, 2009. Her term will expire on August 14, 2015.

Kyoko Wright has been a licensed real estate agent since 1977 and a realtor with Coldwell Banker Bain since 1983. She is a past president of the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors (2000) and was named Realtor of the Year in 2002. Kyoko is presently on the Mountlake Terrace city council, a board member on the Washington Realtors, and a commissioner with the Snohomish County Housing Authority. She is also a board member of the University of Washington School of Drama and the ACT Theatre in Seattle

Kyoko likes to keep busy. She is a mother of a hip hop break dancer who made it to Las Vegas on So You Think You Can Dance television program. To many people, Kyoko is known as Yoshi’s mom since he has made a name for himself.

Broker price opinions

We have received many questions from licensees about issuing brokers price opinions and if the licensee can receive direct compensation. A brokers price opinion, often referred to as a comparative market analysis (CMA), is any oral or written report of property value. RCW 18.140.010(4) requires individuals producing brokers price opinions to be licensed under RCW 18.85.

We have determined that an individual must be actively licensed in order to issue a brokers price opinion. Please be advised that it is considered a violation of RCW 18.85.230(19) for a licensee to receive a commission, compensation, or any form of valuable consideration from anyone except the licensed real estate broker with whom he or she is licensed.

Earnest money

Routine audits of broker transaction files still indicate that a large number of firms are not complying with the delivery and/or deposit requirements regarding earnest money.

All earnest money funds must be deposited into the brokers trust bank account not later than the next banking day unless the purchase and sale agreement states the check is to be held for a specific period of time or the occurrence of a specific event. The delivery of the funds to escrow is the broker's responsibility.

We continue to receive complaints from sellers when the transaction fails that the funds were not deposited or never delivered to the escrow company. Not only is the untimely delivery of earnest money a licensing problem, but also not providing this information to the seller that the earnest money was never collected or delivered can be considered failure to disclose.