Real Estate Report: Realtor Education and Ethics Requirements
Have you ever wondered what qualifications your REALTOR® encompasses? To be a licensed REALTOR®, there is a detailed list of requirements, not only to obtain your license initially, but also to maintain your license with ongoing continuing education.
To initially obtain a license from the state of Maryland, REALTORS® are required to complete a course of instruction in Real Estate Principles and Practices for Salespersons. This course of instruction shall be either the Realtors Institute of Maryland (G. R. I.) Course I, consisting of a minimum of 60 clock-hours of instruction, and sponsored by the Maryland Association of Realtors; or a course approved by the Maryland Real Estate Commission, consisting of a minimum of 60 clock-hours of instruction.
The minimum 60 clock-hour educational requirement for a salesperson shall include the following areas of study: Principles of Real Property; Landlord-Tenant Relationship; Real Estate Contracts; Rules of Agency and Listings; Transfer of Title to Real Property; Title Insurance and Settlements; Fundamentals of Appraising; Real Estate Finance; Maryland Real Estate License Law; Regulations of the Real Estate Commission; Details of the Code of Ethics; Laws and Practices Covering Human Rights and Community Relations; Basic Mathematics Pertaining to the Real Estate Industry; Property Condition Disclosure; and Laws and Regulations Covering Hazardous Substances.
Once a REALTOR® license is obtained, the continuing education requirement in the state of Maryland is currently 15 hours every 2 years that include the following: Maryland Real Estate Commission Agency-Residential course;?Legislative course, Fair Housing course,?MD Code of Ethics course, and?4.5 hours of electives.
Quadrennial ethics training is also a membership requirement in the National Association of Realtors. This required ethics course covers NAR’s Code of Ethics and describes specific Articles throughout the document. As an example, here are a few of the Standards of Practice from Article 1 of the Code of Ethics which is the first Article that addresses a REALTORS® duties to clients and customers.
Standard of Practice 1-3: REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.
Standard of Practice 1-4: REALTORS®, when seeking to become a buyer/tenant representative, shall not mislead buyers or tenants as to savings or other benefits that might be realized through use of the REALTOR®’s services.
Standard of Practice 1-5: REALTORS® may represent the seller/landlord and buyer/tenant in the same transaction only after full disclosure to and with informed consent of both parties.
Standard of Practice 1-6: REALTORS® shall submit offers and counter-offers objectively and as quickly as possible.
If you are interested in reviewing the entire NAR Code of Ethics, visit www.realtor.org.
Lauren Bunting is a licensed REALTOR®with Bunting Realty, Inc. in Berlin, MD.
Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.
