Legality Of FL Birddogs????
My wife just finished Real Estate School and I was reading her material the one thing that REALLY caught my attention was the license requirements.
"Anyone who performs:
Any service of real estate, In the state of Florida, for someone else, for compensation or the mere expectation of compensation."
Now what is the fine line a birddog must tread, and what lines must they NOT cross? Please answer quickly as I have a friend that has seemed to cross these boundries and is acting as an agent, I need to let her know before the board of realtors finds her website and sues the crap out of her!
[addsig]
You are correct that "bird dogs" violate Florida law. The way to avoid this situation is for the bird dog to actually contract to purchase or option the property. This way the bird dog has an equitable interest and is not in violation of Florida law. In other words become a wholesaler.
Thanks for the reply, anyone else know of ways to avoid violating the law in Florida? My friend has a line on some really nice propeties and is trying to find buyers for them, is she working as an agent by doing this? What is the fine/punishment if she is caught doing it? Any insight is appreciated. How about some input from John Locke on this one too?
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White Sand and Real Estate Dreams! I wanna actually live on the water someday, Now it is a 10 min walk![ Edited by nwflbeachbum on Date 11/16/2003 ]
nwflbeachbum,
The local Real Estate Boards impose regulation relevant to the distribution or aid in distribution of a homestead with the intent to protect the consumer (and in some rare cases monopolize the marketplace).
Whether or not this legislation is put into place in a criminal or a civil context, it does appear fairly evident that the enforcement of this legislation would be limited to that of:
a) When a consumer is being blind-sided (ie: you are acting on his or her behalf without proper licensing and steering him/her wrong)
b) You are continuously taking a "fee" for selling real estate.
If you are working with an investor, and you are paid by the investor, who has experience in real estate transactions, and you are not party to that transaction (ie: a consultant) you should, (this is not to be construed as legal advice) be ok, for the following reasons:
1) You are taking a fee for selling information, not real estate (nobody can prevent you from charging $5.00 to tell him or her were the nearest gas station is, or where the nearest "deal" is)
2) Even if legislation was in place to protect the consumer, you have conducted no harm to the consumer....so in a semi-perfect world, you can indeed pay for a lead on a house!
I think it is important to know, most investors are opposed to the local Real Estate Boards attempting to corner the market on Buying/Selling properties, I am certainly of the opinion that the local Boards would like to see no investors/creative RE at all so that they can continue to take a small chunk out of every property sold and have the properties sold according to their "rules & regulations".
There is also such a thing as a simple Partnership Agreement, thereby making you and the investor principals in the transaction. The Bird Dog is bought out of the Partnership by the investor, thereby violating no State Statute.
John $Cash$ Locke