Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 16 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS › Chapter 99 - REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPERSONS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 16-99-3 - Conduct

Current through June, 2024
(a) To fully protect the general public in
				its real estate transactions, every licensee shall conduct business, including
				the licensee's own personal real estate transactions, in accordance with this
				section.
(b) The licensee shall
				protect the public against fraud, misrepresentation, or unethical practices in
				the real estate field. The licensee shall endeavor to eliminate any practices
				in the community which could be damaging to the public or to the dignity and
				integrity of the real estate profession. The licensee shall assist the
				commission in its efforts to regulate the practices of brokers and salespersons
				in this State.
(c) The licensee
				shall not be a party to the naming of a false consideration in any document,
				unless it be the naming of an obviously nominal consideration.
(d) The licensee shall recommend that title
				be examined, survey be conducted, or legal counsel be obtained when the
				interest of either party requires it.
(e) The broker shall keep in special bank
				accounts, separated from the broker's own funds, moneys coming into the
				broker's possession in trust for other persons, such as escrow funds, trust
				funds, clients' moneys, rental deposits, rental receipts, and other like
				items.
(f) The licensee, for the
				protection of all parties with whom the licensee deals, shall see that
				financial obligations and commitments regarding real estate transactions,
				including real property rental management agreements, are in writing, express
				the exact agreements of the parties, and set forth essential terms and
				conditions, and that copies of those agreements, at the time they are executed,
				are placed in the hands of all parties involved.
When working with a seller in a "For Sale By Owner" or a
				  "Courtesy to Broker" situation, the licensee shall disclose who, if anyone, the
				  licensee represents and who will pay a commission, if any.
(g) The licensee shall not acquire, rent,
				lease, or exchange an interest in or buy, rent, lease, or exchange for one's
				self, any member of the licensee's immediate family or brokerage firm, or any
				entity in which the licensee has any ownership interest, property listed with
				the licensee, licensee's brokerage firm, or listed with any other brokerage
				firm or licensee without making the true position known in writing to the
				listing owner or property owner. When offering for sale, lease, exchange, or
				rental, property which the licensee owns or has an interest in, the licensee
				shall fully inform the principal broker of the licensee's intention to sell,
				lease, exchange, or rent, and of the licensee's interest in the property. The
				licensee shall reveal the interest to the purchaser, lessee, or tenant in
				writing prior to accepting any offer.
(h) When acting as agent in the management of
				property, the licensee shall not accept any commission, rebate, or profit on
				expenditures for or from an owner, without the owner's and principal broker's
				knowledge and consent.
(i) The
				brokerage firm shall not submit or advertise property without written
				authorization, and in any offering the price quoted shall not be other than
				that agreed upon with the owner as the offering price.
(j) A licensee shall transmit immediately all
				written offers in any real estate transaction as defined in section
				16-99-3.1 to the listing broker
				who has a written unexpired exclusive listing contract covering the property.
				Each written offer, upon receipt by the listing broker, shall be transmitted to
				the seller immediately. In the event that more than one formal written offer on
				a specific property is made before the owner has accepted an offer, any other
				formal written offer presented to the broker, whether by a prospective
				purchaser or another broker, shall be immediately transmitted to the owner for
				decision. If an offer or counter offer is rejected, the rejection shall be
				noted on the offer or counter offer, or in the event of seller's or buyer's
				neglect or refusal to do so, the broker for the rejecting party shall note the
				rejection on the offer or counter offer and a copy shall be returned
				immediately to the originator of the offer or counter offer.
(k) The brokerage firm shall not compensate a
				licensee of another brokerage firm in connection with a real estate transaction
				without paying directly or causing the payment to be made directly to the other
				brokerage firm. This requirement shall not apply in cases where the licensee or
				the licensee's estate is receiving compensation from a former brokerage firm
				for commission earned while the licensee was affiliated with that former
				brokerage firm, regardless of whether the licensee is on inactive status or on
				forfeited status or deceased.
(l)
				A licensee shall not place any sign or advertisement indicating a property is
				for sale, rent, lease, or exchange without the written authorization of the
				owner or seller and approval of the principal broker or
				broker-in-charge.
(m) There shall
				be a principal broker or one or more brokers-in-charge, or both, at the
				principal place of business, and one or more brokers-in-charge at a branch
				office who shall be immediately responsible for the real estate operations
				conducted at that place of business.
(n) A brokerage firm shall maintain a
				principal place of business located in this State at a business address
				registered with the commission from which the brokerage firm conducts business
				and where the brokerage firm's books and records are maintained.
(o) Prior to the time the principal broker or
				the broker-in-charge is absent from the principal place of business for more
				than thirty calendar days, and no other broker-in-charge is registered for the
				principal place of business, the principal broker shall submit to the
				commission a signed, written notification of the absence designating a
				temporary principal broker or temporary broker-in-charge, who shall acknowledge
				the temporary designation by signing the notification. In case of prolonged
				illness or death where the principal broker or broker-in-charge is unable to
				act, another broker shall be designated as the temporary principal broker or
				broker-in-charge within thirty days of the illness or death with appropriate
				notification and statement of a licensed medical doctor certifying to the
				commission the inability of the broker to practice.
A temporary principal broker or broker-in-charge arrangement
				  shall not exceed a period of six months unless, prior to expiration of the
				  initial six-month period, the principal broker requests and obtains, upon a
				  showing of good cause for such extension, approval of the commission to extend
				  the temporary arrangement for up to an additional six months.
(p) No licensee shall act as a broker,
				broker-salesperson, or salesperson for more than one brokerage firm except that
				this subsection shall not apply to those situations as described in subsection
				(o).
(q) Within ten days of
				receiving a written request, it shall be the responsibility of the principal
				broker or broker-in-charge of the brokerage firm to provide broker applicants
				formerly or presently employed by or associated with them with an accurate
				experience certification statement in the form provided by the commission
				attesting to the length of time that the broker applicant has been actively
				associated with or employed full-time by the brokerage firm. Falsification of
				information contained in the certification form shall be cause for revocation
				or suspension of the broker's or brokerage firm's license and of the
				salesperson's license if that person is a party to the falsification.
(r) A broker licensee shall not sit for any
				Hawaii real estate broker or salesperson examination during the period in which
				the licensee has a real estate broker license unless specifically permitted by
				the commission.
(s) A salesperson
				licensee shall not sit for any Hawaii real estate salesperson examination
				during the period in which the licensee has a real estate salesperson license
				unless specifically permitted by the commission.
(t) An exclusive listing shall state a
				definite termination date.
(u) The
				licensee shall not add to or modify the terms of an instrument previously
				signed or initiated by a party to a transaction without written consent of all
				the parties.
(v) The licensee shall
				not convert other people's moneys to the licensee's own use.
(w) Violation of any part of this chapter may
				be cause for revocation or suspension of license.