Watch Out for Minnesota Realtor Forms
Because CAARE is located in Minnesota, we know more about the anti-consumer practices here than any other state. This is especially true of the anti-consumer forms used to engage Realtors and to buy or sell real estate. Since there are far superior alternatives to the Realtor forms, we highly recommend that you consider them.
While the Minnesota Association of Realtors does not publish their forms, we have had numerous consumers supply them to us. Not only are these forms poorly drafted, they create enormous risks for both buyers and sellers and line the pockets of the Realtors at the same time.
As an example, we were helping one seller who sold her house contingent upon her buyers selling their house. The Realtor contingency form stated that the buyers’ house was currently listed to sell. However, the buyers had no intention to market their house for over four months. The very large real estate brokerage firm claimed that they had done nothing wrong because they had the buyers’ signed up on a listing contract and they had no duty to start marketing it. This is just one of many problems with the Realtor form.
The Minnesota State Bar Association has free forms that are far superior to the Realtor forms. These forms can be found here: Bar Association Real Estate Forms.
Please consider hiring an attorney to draft your purchase agreement. Although Realtors are licensed to fill out forms, most do not possess good drafting skills and are likely to draft documents that are voidable or severely deficient. We have seen numerous examples of Realtor poor drafting skills that have harmed many Minnesota consumers.
Minnesota has a certification process for real estate attorneys that is very good. Here is a searchable database of Real Property Law Specialists (certified by the Minnesota state bar association). Careful when you select a residential real estate lawyer that the lawyer does not also routinely represent real estate brokerage firms or any Realtor Associations. These attorneys have a terrible conflict of interest and are extremely unlikely to call attention to Realtor malfeasance.