CALBRE to Keller Williams: Drop Dead

I’ve been on the road driving all around Florida since Labor Day, so obviously, blogging has been light. But I was sent some news by a reader — again, the best informed audience in real estate — and I was really struck by the forceful language. CALBRE (California Bureau of Real Estate) has released a Licensee … Read more

NLRB's Browning Ferris Decision: Bad, Bad News for Franchising

Earlier today, the National Labor Relations Board handed down its ruling in the Brown Ferris case. If you are a brokerage who belongs to a national franchise, like Coldwell Banker or Keller Williams or REMAX, or even a regional franchise, like Crye-Leike or Windermere, could I suggest that you take your mind off of Zillow … Read more

NLRB’s Browning Ferris Decision: Bad, Bad News for Franchising

Earlier today, the National Labor Relations Board handed down its ruling in the Brown Ferris case. If you are a brokerage who belongs to a national franchise, like Coldwell Banker or Keller Williams or REMAX, or even a regional franchise, like Crye-Leike or Windermere, could I suggest that you take your mind off of Zillow … Read more

Reading the Union Position on Monell v. Boston Pads

As my readers know, the recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) handed down its ruling in Monell v. Boston Pads. I wrote about that case and cautioned against irrational exuberance from the results, because the results were not exactly a huge victory for the real estate industry’s position. Thing is, Bararsani v. Coldwell Banker, the … Read more

Monell v. Boston Pads Ruling: Hold Off on the Jubilation

Earlier today, the Massachusetts Supreme Court handed down its decision on Monell v. Boston Pads, one of two independent contractor status lawsuits that the real estate industry has been watching with baited breath. (The other one, still being litigated, is Bararsani v. Coldwell Banker in California.) Bottomline: the brokerages and the REALTOR Associations that backed … Read more

RPR-Upstream and Personal Liability for NAR Directors

I’m still at the NAR Midyear Legislative Sessions and heading out to meetings soon, so this will be brief. By now, you know that NAR’s Finance and Executive Committees have approved RPR to become the platform for the hitherto-mysterious Project Upstream. Inman News has coverage of the decision. Thing is, this decision highlights precisely what … Read more

Copyright and Solds-Over-IDX

Judging by the stats, it appears that few people actually took the time to listen to my most recent podcast, featuring Brian Balduf of VHT Studios. We discussed a number of issues surrounding copyright of photographs and liability that arises from misuse, which… yeah, I understand those are sleeping aids for most people. Nonetheless, I … Read more

Notorious POD: Episode 12 – Photos, Copyrights, Liability with Brian Balduf, VHT

  It’s been months since my last podcast, but that’s just how things work out sometimes. But with T3 coming up, I figured I should upload this. Brian Balduf, CEO of VHT, joined me to discuss an issue that’s really going a bit under the radar. His post Now Is The Time to Shield Your … Read more

Raising the Bar and Lawsuits… A Thought

I know I haven’t been blogging, but hey… when you’re sitting on the beach in Aruba staring at gently lapping waves of turquoise waters, diving into the Interwebz isn’t real high on your list of priorities. Trust me on that. 🙂 In any event, saw an interesting little tidbit this morning on Inman News that … Read more