Claim Prevention & Risk Management
Top Reasons for Real Estate E&O Claims in California and How to Reduce Your Risk
VIDEO WEBINAR SUMMARY In today’s ever-evolving California real estate market, understanding current trends in Errors & Omissions (E&O) claims is critical for real estate agents and brokers looking…
Real Estate iBuyers — What They Are and How to Manage the Risk
The real estate market has changed with the introduction of iBuyers - corporate buyers who make fast offers on homes using technology. iBuyers offer sellers a quick and…
Top 10 Most-Visited Risk Management Blog Posts from 2024
The real estate industry is always changing, bringing new challenges for licensees to navigate. At CRES, we’re committed to keeping you informed about potential risks that could result…
6 Real Estate Questions that Can Get Licensees in Legal Trouble — And How to Answer
Your buyers have questions. You want to be helpful and answer them, but should you? Surprisingly, answering many seemingly innocuous real estate questions — Is this a safe…
How Real Estate Brokers Can Minimize the Risks Of Delayed Real Estate Transactions
Have you or one of your team members ever had a buyer back out of a purchase? Did a seller back out of a sale for a better…
Want Free Legal Advice To Reduce Real Estate Lawsuits?
As a real estate professional, do you ever lie awake worrying about whether you need to disclose something? Or how to handle a non-cooperative owner? Or whether that…
Managing Risk When Dealing With Real Estate Investor Groups and Syndicates
If you’re a real estate broker, you or your team members have probably encountered your fair share of investor groups or syndicates as clients. These types of clients…
Risk Management for CRES Members: How to Handle Potential Real Estate E&O Claims, Actual Claims, and Calls from Attorneys
Risk Management is the first line of defense against potential errors and omissions claims for real estate professionals. Reach out as soon as you think a dispute or…
How Real Estate Brokers Can Mitigate Risk with High-Value Transactions
High-value real estate transactions bring bigger commissions, but also bigger risks for real estate brokers. The stakes are high and any oversight or negligence (actual or perceived) can…
When Was Your Last Due Diligence Audit for Your Real Estate Brokerage?
Real estate brokers are always telling their clients to do their due diligence when it comes to real estate transactions. But, when was your last due diligence audit…
What Real Estate Brokers Need to Know About Anti-Competitive Behavior
Real estate brokers have an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure your business complies with antitrust laws. Avoiding anti-competitive behavior, or anything that may be perceived as anti-competitive,…
Closing Gifts and How To Avoid a Lawsuit in Your Real Estate Business
In real estate, many licensees choose to give closing gifts as a thoughtful gesture to wrap up a client’s home sale or purchase. It’s one of the many…
CRES Risk Management Webinar: Simple Everyday Strategies for Real Estate Professionals to Reduce Your Risk
In this webinar, Mark Carlson from Carlson Law Group, and Dave Miller, Regional Vice President with Fidelity National Home Warranty, talk about how real estate professionals can add…
Top 10 Risk Management Posts for Real Estate Licensees for 2023
As the real estate landscape evolves, so do the challenges faced by licensees. At CRES, we try to keep you informed about issues that could lead to a…
Does Your Real Estate Website Meet ADA Accessibility Requirements?
Having an accessible website is not just a matter of being inclusive — real estate licensees have a legal obligation. You must ensure your website complies with the…
Commercial Claims and How Real Estate Licensees Can Avoid Them
The stakes are often high with commercial transactions. To help real estate licensees avoid commercial claims, we discuss the risks, as well as real-life cases and our top…
Do’s And Don’ts Telemarketing Regulations
The Do’s and Don’ts below should give real estate licensees a general understanding of what is required in connection of telemarketing. Violation of the rules could result in…
Who is Responsible for the Actions of Non-Licensed Staff in Your Real Estate Office?
Your real estate office likely has a number of independent contractors working under your brokerage. An independent contractor may have non-licensed assistants helping with answering phones, marketing efforts,…
Selling or Buying New Builds or Properties Under Construction
Selling new builds or properties under construction can be challenging for real estate licensees. When dealing with these properties, licensees face risks that are not so common with…
Real Estate Licensees: How You Can Prevent an Unauthorized Practice of Law Claim Against You
California Civil Code section 2079.16 states that buyers and sellers of real estate are advised that California licensed real estate agents and brokers are not qualified to give…
CRES Risk Management Webinar: What real estate professionals should do if served with a subpoena
VIDEO WEBINAR SUMMARY Attorney Kathryn Holbert has been defending real estate professionals for more than 15 years. In this webinar, Kathryn provides insight into what you should do…
Do You Know Your Duties and Liabilities as a Trustee of a Home in a Trust?
Have you ever handled a home in a trust? Property in a trust can bring specific concerns and issues: How do you deal with a non-cooperative owner? What…
8 Most Common Ways for Real Estate Licensees to Avoid Litigation (a CRES Risk Management Webinar)
8 Most Common Ways for Real Estate Licensees to Avoid Litigation | RSS.com Learn 8 key ways to avoid the most common areas of litigation in this webinar…
When Omissions Get Real Estate Licensees In Hot Water
Usually, when you say ‘omissions’ in real estate, people think immediately about disclosures. Failure to disclose defects or major issues with a property is a major reason that…
How to Cultivate a Culture of Equity and Inclusion Among Your Real Estate Team
In your role as a real estate broker, you and your team will deal with people from different backgrounds, races, cultures, ages, genders and occupations. To run a…
How to Handle Negative Online Reviews For Your Brokerage
According to the Pew Research Center, 85% of Americans go online daily. That percentage includes 31% of people who report they’re online almost constantly and 48% who say…
5 Tips to Create an Effective Risk Management Framework for Your Brokerage
Every small business can benefit from having a risk management framework in place to minimize risk, liability and lawsuits. But for real estate brokers, it’s truly essential to…
How to Avoid a Lawsuit When Acting as an Agent for an Auctioned Property
Managing client expectations can be a challenge at the best of times. When you’re acting as a seller’s or buyer’s agent for an auctioned property, it can be…
COVID-19 – The Impact on Real Estate and How to Manage Your Risk
The situation with COVID-19 is changing each day in both the USA and other countries around the world. The coronavirus has cast a dim shadow over the world’s…
How to Minimize Risks in Your Social Media Property Marketing
Property marketing skills are an essential component in a real estate professional’s toolbox. With around 2.38 billion users on Facebook, 145 million daily active users on Twitter, and…
How to Avoid a Real Estate Breach of Duty Claim
As a real estate professional, you face many risks every day in the course of business. Claims for “breach of duty” are just one of those risks. Here’s…
How to Avoid Client Injuries at Your Office
Client visits are an everyday occurrence for a real estate broker’s office. But what if a client trips or falls at your premises? What happens if something accidentally…
How Good Real Estate Professionals Can Get Mixed Up in Negligence Claims
As a real estate professional, there are risks in your business which make you vulnerable to lawsuits. When you’re balancing multiple listings, contracts, clients, prospects, open houses, marketing…
How Do You Manage the Lawsuit Risk in Your Real Estate Business? Could You Do it Better?
Managing the risk of E&O claims and lawsuits is especially important in real estate. One serious lawsuit could destroy your business -- or your reputation. So you want…
Tiny House, Big Problem – Understanding the legal risks of building, buying and selling tiny homes
With the current affordable housing shortage in many areas of the United States, it’s no surprise that buyers are looking for low-cost alternatives to traditional housing options. Trendy…
What to Do When A Real Estate Lawyer Wants to Talk to You
Don’t let a simple inquiry escalate into a real estate E&O claim You see the email pop into your inbox, or the receptionist tells you there’s an attorney…
Should You Respond to the Threat of a Real Estate Lawsuit?
Seller carrybacks can be risky. Could helping a client with a carryback loan put you at risk of a real estate lawsuit? In this example it did. Our…
How to Handle Being Misnamed in a Real Estate Lawsuit
Getting hit with a real estate lawsuit is stressful—even when you shouldn’t have been named as a defendant. Recently a CRES client received a solicitation letter from a…
Don’t Try to Resolve Real Estate Issues that Could Become E&O Claims on Your Own
Have you ever received a call from unhappy buyers because of misinformation in an MLS listing? Trying to deal with issues like these can be a big headache—and…
Permit History Reports: A Tool to Prevent Real Estate Lawsuits?
You may have discovered that Permit History Reports can be difficult for real estate agents to access. Typically, you have to check with city and county offices depending…
ClaimPrevent® Risk Management Legal Advice to the Rescue
Have you ever overlooked something small that could have big repercussions? Most real estate professionals have. But this is just one case where some Risk Management, aka 'claim…
How to Avoid a Real Estate Lawsuit
Real estate professionals are vulnerable when it comes to a lawsuit. Real estate is a big business, with multiple parties, lots of moving parts, and ever-shifting market regulations…
How to Advise Foreign Language or Visually Impaired Real Estate Clients
Advising a client who is sight impaired or who cannot read or write in the English language Over the years as a real estate attorney in litigated and…
Top Seven Real Estate Lawsuit Risks for Agents
You can do everything within your power to prevent a claim, but you cannot guarantee a career free of claims or litigation. There are many moving parts and…
Be Your Buyer’s Hero With Building Permit History Reports
One in five claims against real estate professionals is the result of a permit issue. One. In. Five. While not all of these claims can be prevented, a…
Risk Management: Your ticket to fewer claims and lower premiums
You are regularly helping in the purchase and sale of the largest investment most Americans will make in their lives. Since each home and its buyer/seller are unique,…
When Should a Real Estate Agent Be Communicating With a Seller’s or Buyer’s Attorney?
When problems arise after close of an escrow for a particular real property, the listing and selling agent are typically contacted by an attorney for either the seller…
“Stress Less” Hotline: Legal Help for Real Estate Pros Included with CRES E&O
What makes CRES different from other Real Estate E&O providers? Other E&O providers ask you to contact them when you actually have a claim, while CRES wants to…
