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Five on Friday [R]esource Summary
  1. Understanding Fair Housing laws help reduce risks around 'Love Letters'
  2. What 'Sign In' option do you normally use for zipForms?
  3. Broker Compensation and Referral Fee Agreements - IAR Video #9
  4. RPR® presents Episode 4 in Decoding Real Estate podcast
  5. Looking for an in-person CE opportunity? We've got one!
1.
Reduce Risk Around “Buyer Love Letters” 
There are many questions about the use of so-called “buyer love letters” and the legal and ethical issues they can create. Buyer love letters are letters buyers use to attach to their offer or mail to the sellers describing themselves and their appreciation for the house in the hope that the sellers will be moved by their words to accept their offer. They are used frequently in high demand, low supply markets.
I’m a listing agent — how do I reduce risk for client and myself?

NAR recommends that you first educate your sellers about the fair housing laws and the pitfalls of accepting buyer love letters. Here are three excellent resources:


Your seller may say that any information contained in the letter will not influence their decision and that they would like to review them. In this case, talk to them about the concept of implicit bias, something which most people have but are unaware of, and which could inadvertently influence their decision. For more information on implicit bias, watch “Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing” and take the Implicit Association Test from the Perception Institute.

Ultimately, their decision to accept or reject an offer should be based on objective criteria only. Decide with your clients that you will not accept buyer love letters at all, and consider adding something like, “no buyer love letters will be accepted or read by the sellers” under agent remarks of the MLS. (This will help buyers’ agents reinforce this with their clients, too.)

Lastly, consider documenting all offers received and the seller’s objective reasoning for accepting the offer they did and why the others were rejected, when applicable.
2.
NAR.realtor/Username zipForm sign in option no longer available.
If you've been using the blue button that reads 'Sign in with your NAR.realtor/Username and Password' you'll need to contact zipForms
Which sign in option do you normally use to access your zipForms account?
A?
(see below)
No longer available.
If you normally use the blue button to sign in to zipForms, contact zipForms at 866-CRY-WOLF
zipForms will need to connect you to your account.
B?
(all good!)
No changes!
Your account was created through the zipForm platform and you can continue to access your account as usual.
No matter where you start the process to access your zipForms account (IRMLS/RACI Dashboard or directly at www.zipformplus.com) when you get to the zipForms login screen if you've been using your NAR.realtor/Username and Password to sign in you'll need to contact zipForms at 866-CRY-WOLF to allow zipForms to connect you to your account.

Attempting to create an account or using Forgot username | Forgot password will not work to get you logged in. Essentially, the NAR.realtor/Username and Password linked you to zipForms but account creation did not happed at the zipForm level. This means a) you have an account so you can't create one, but also b) no username and password was set up in the zipForms platform.
3.
IAR Forms Video Series - Broker Compensation and Referral Fee Agreements
Video #9 on IAR forms is now available. Watch as General Counsel Richelle Cohen Mossler discusses the Broker Compensation and Referral Fee Agreements. Catch up on videos 1-8 too! 
4.
Decoding Real Estate: Growing Business Through Your CRM With Ricardo Bueno
You hear the acronym “CRM” all the time in real estate, and you probably even know it stands for Customer Relationship Management. But… are you really managing it? Ricardo Bueno, from Follow Up Boss, can help. His first take? “Your phone is not your CRM!”
Ricardo joins Decoding Real Estate to offer strategies, tactics and checklists for utilizing a CRM to its fullest potential. Get tips for managing your contacts, mastering the software, automating “busy” tasks, engaging your sphere, how to revive your touchpoint campaigns, and how to evaluate and segment your database.

Decoding Real Estate is hosted by Reggie Nicolay and Genie Willett.
5.
Looking for in-person CE?
IAR has added 12-hr online CE package as a member benefit, but sometimes it's easier to process material in-person.
RACI is hosting two (2) days of in-person CE for a total of 12 hours

Day 1: Fair Housing (2) & Forms (4 - meets Managing Broker requirement)
Day 2: Antitrust (3) and H2O Risks (3)

RACI REALTOR® & MLS Only members can sign up through the Resource Center for RACI Members. Cost is based on the type of membership you have with RACI.

2-Day Package Cost: Member - $30* (2 days) or MLS Only - $50* (2 days)
1 Day Cost: Member - $20 (1 day) or MLS Only - $30 (1 day)
Location: Inventrek Auditorium - 700 E Firmin, Kokomo
*RACI Staff will register you for the 2nd day when you purchase 2-Day Package from Day 1 event.
Login here or create your Member login here to register and pay for upcoming events.
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