Commission Chairman Matthew J. (Rick) Watts presented the Blanton Little Memorial Scholarship to Reuben L. Moore of Cary, and the Joe Schweidler Memorial Scholarship to John L. Irvin, Jr., of Greensboro.
Little and Schweidler are former executive directors of the Real Estate Commission.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
To honor Real Estate Commission Executive Director Phillip T. Fisher’s long and dedicated service, the Commission has established the Phillip T. Fisher Scholarship in his honor. Fisher joined the Commission in 1975.
The scholarship will benefit persons who have distinguished themselves in the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) education program conducted under the auspices of the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of REALTORS® Council of Residential Specialists.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
Real estate professionals are being invited by the newly established North Carolina Commission on State Property (NCCOSP) to submit proposals concerning state-owned properties believed to be surplus. The proposals may be accompanied by an offer to purchase or an offer to list the parcel for sale.
The Property Commission will work with state agencies that control such properties to determine whether the property is surplus. A licensee may be eligible to receive brokerage fees if a proposal is accepted and certain conditions are met.North Carolina owns more than 630,000 acres of land and over 12,000 buildings. For more information and rules governing proposals, visit the Commission’s website, www.nccosp.state.nc.us.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
Speaker of the House James T. Black has appointed Real Estate Commission member William C. Lackey, Jr., of Cornelius to the Board of Directors of the Housing Finance Agency. The Agency seeks to create affordable housing opportunities for people whose needs are not being met by the market.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
On September 14, Governor Easley signed legislation making the most significant changes ever in the Real Estate License Law.
Soon, salesperson licenses will be converted to (provisional) broker licenses, license applicants will be required to complete more real estate education, and persons wishing to become brokers-in-charge of real estate offices must have additional training and real estate experience.
At its September meeting, the Real Estate Commission recognized the following persons and organizations who were instrumental in the passage of the legislation:
• Representative Julia Howard who, with Representatives William Culpepper and Harold Brubaker, sponsored the legislation and who advocated for it on the House Floor and in committee;
• Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand who sponsored a companion bill and spoke for the legislation on the Senate Floor;
• North Carolina Association of REALTORS® which used its considerable resources to promote the legislation; and the Commission’s 2004 Broker-in-Charge Advisory Committee which conceived and recommended the legislation to the Commission.
Commission Chairman Rick Watts concluded the proceedings by remarking that, as a result of this important legislation, “Real estate consumers will soon be served by more knowledgeable agents, and North Carolina’s real estate licensing program will be restructured to meet the needs and demands of the 21st century marketplace.”
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
Real Estate Commission member Allan R. Dameron of Holden Beach has been named by the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® as 2005 REALTOR® of the Year.
The award is made annually to a REALTOR® for significant contributions to the industry and the community. Commission member Wanda J. Proffitt of Burnsville was named NCAR 1992 REALTOR® of the Year.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
Real Estate Commission Chairman Matthew J. “Rick” Watts, Deputy Legal Counsel Janet B. Thoren and Chief Auditor/Investigator Michael B. Gray participated with representatives of state and federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies in a working meeting concerning real estate mortgage fraud and a press conference in Charlotte recently.
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice through the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of North Carolina, participants discussed coordinated state and federal efforts to combat the growing problem of fraudulent mortgage activity in the state.
Watts announced at the press conference that the Commission will ask the General Assembly for legislation strengthening the hands of state law enforcement and prosecutors in obtaining convictions and increasing penalties for promoters convicted of mortgage loan fraud.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
Governor Mike Easley has reappointed Allan R. Dameron of Holden Beach to a third term on the Real Estate Commission. Dameron, Broker Associate of Alan Holden Realty/RE/Max, served two consecutive years as Chairman in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight has reappointed Marsha H. Jordan of Lincolnton to a third term and Speaker of the House James T. Black has reappointed Melvin L. “Skip” Alston of Greensboro to a second term. Jordan, owner of Apple Realty, was Vice Chairman in 2004-05; Alston, President of S&J Management Corp., is currently a Vice Chairman.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
By Emmet R. Wood, Director, Audits and Investigations
You may recall from my previous Auditor’s Corner that I defined internal controls for real estate trust accounts as policies and procedures designed to safeguard the assets of the account and provide reasonable assurance that the account’s books and records are reliable.
Special problems are posed when a real estate company accepts cash. For instance, consider the following scenario: A real estate company that manages rental units for various owners allows tenants to pay their rent and security deposits with personal checks and/or cash. The company has two rental managers who, when they collect cash, give the tenant a receipt from one of the company’s receipt books and then place the money in a cash drawer. At the end of each business day, one of the rental managers counts the cash collected, prepares the deposit ticket, and deposits the money in the bank the next morning.
Since both of the rental managers have access to the cash drawer, what internal controls could the company initiate to minimize the risk of a cash embezzlement?
The first internal control would be to assign a separate receipt book with sequentially-numbered receipts to each rental manager and limit them to writing receipts only from their own books. The second internal control would be to assign each of them their own cash drawer which only they could access. The third would be for the company to require each rental manager to total his or her cash receipts, balance the total to the money in their cash drawer and deposit ticket, and then deposit the money in the bank on a daily basis.
It may be helpful for you to place yourself in the position of those employees in your company who have access to trust funds, think about how you might take trust money if you were them, and then design a system of internal controls to prevent you from taking the funds. If you need further help, consider consulting a CPA.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.
The 2005-2006 Update Course, mandatory for licensees as part of their continuing education requirement, covers:
• Changes to the Real Estate License Law creating a single class of “Broker” license, converting salesperson licenses to “provisional broker” licenses, increasing education requirements, and mandating more experience and training for brokers-in-charge. (See page nine in this issue of the Bulletin for a summary of key changes to the law, which takes effect April 1, 2006, and page eight for answers to frequently asked questions.)
• A new procedure allowing brokers holding disputed funds to pay the funds to the Clerk of the Court after notice to the parties.
• Commission Rule changes effective July 1, 2005, as well as revisions to standard forms of the North Carolina Association of REALTORS®.
• Discussions of radon gas and why purchasers of property should have a current survey.
• Commission rule governing real estate advertising including matters such as owner consent, “blind” ads, identification of individuals and companies, Truth-in-Lending and Fair Housing restrictions and “Do Not Call” and “Do Not Fax” laws.
All continuing education for the current licensing year that began July 1 must be taken on or before June 10, 2006. Education course sponsors are not permitted to offer courses for CE credit between June 11 and June 30 of each year to allow time for sponsors to file reports to the Commission and for the Commission to process them.
Licensees are encouraged to take the Update Course earlier rather than later in the license year. The CE schedule indicating course locations and dates for the period through December is available on the Commission’s website, www.ncrec.state.nc.us.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.