Thanks to hard work by CAR staff and leadership, the Colorado Real Estate Commission recently voted not to adopt proposed changes to Rule F-7. According to CAR’s General Counsel, Scott Peterson, several attorneys who serve on the Real Estate Commission proposed changes to F-7 creating a list of criteria that would require a lawyer to annually review any forms used by brokers not promulgated by the Commission. CAR argued the proposal would create a “substantial and unnecessary burden on brokers and the consumer public.”
This is not the first time attorneys had challenged REALTORS’ ability to use contract forms. In 1957 the Colorado Supreme Court rejected the state and local bar associations’ contention that a broker’s completion of “standard and approved” forms constituted the unauthorized practice of law. CAR advocated for the F rules in 1971 in order to ensure consistency and quality in the contract documents used by REALTORS and licensees. The General Assembly codified a broker’s authority to complete forms in a similarly broad manner in 1993.
The rule states, “real estate brokers are required to use Commission-approved forms as appropriate to a transaction or circumstance to which a relevant form is applicable. In instances when the Commission has not developed an approved form within the purview of this rule, and other forms are used, they are not governed by Rule F.”
IRES MLS: Come Home to Colorado 