Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 24 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Chapter 24.210 - BOARD OF REALTY REGULATION › Subchapter 24.210.6 - Brokers and Salespersons › Rule 24.210.641 - UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) In addition to
				all other statutes and rules administered by the board, the following are
				considered unprofessional conduct:
(a) acting
				as an agent for a party or parties in a real estate transaction where that
				agency representation conflicts with the obligations owed by the licensee to
				another party. This does not prohibit dual agency as permitted in
				37-51-313,
				MCA.
(b) engaging in activities
				that constitute the practice of law;
(c) failing to advise their principal and any
				other party to the transaction with whom the licensee is directly working, that
				outside professional services should be secured when appropriate;
(d) engaging the services of any attorney,
				title company, appraiser, escrow agent, insurance agent, maintenance service,
				or other like person or entity, on behalf of a principal, third-party, or other
				person, without informing and obtaining consent from the person obligated to
				pay for the services;
(e) engaging
				or recommending the services of an attorney, title company, appraiser, escrow
				agent, maintenance service, or other like person or entity, on behalf of a
				principal, third-party, or other person, without disclosing any family
				relationship, financial relationship, and/or financial interest that the
				licensee or real estate agency with which the licensee is associated may have
				in that person or entity being engaged or recommended;
(f) failing, when entering into a listing
				agreement, to promptly verify that the principal listing the property is the
				owner or is authorized by the owner to list the property. The licensee may, but
				is not required to, conduct a title search or obtain a title report at the
				initial listing;
(g) failing to
				disclose the fact that the individual is a licensee when the licensee first
				seeks information from the owner, the owner's agent, or tenant about any
				property, whether for the licensee's own account or as agent for another;
(h) falsifying documents, placing
				any party's signature on a document, or altering or amending a document on
				behalf of any party without authority of a written power of attorney from the
				party;
(i) advising that an offer
				or counter offer has been accepted without the licensee having in the
				licensee's possession a document signed by the party evidencing the party's
				acceptance;
(j) committing any act
				of forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, deception, misappropriation, conversion,
				theft, or any other like act;
(k)
				knowingly entering, or willfully continuing in any transaction, either as a
				principal or agent, wherein a purpose or objective of the licensee or the
				licensee's principal is to commit any of the following acts:
(i) using or conspiring with others to obtain
				inflated property appraisals;
(ii)
				influencing others to purchase property for another person in order to
				circumvent credit and down payment requirements or other limitations imposed by
				lenders, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or the Veterans
				Administration (VA);
(iii) filing
				an application to refinance a loan for the purpose of drawing out the equity,
				when prohibited by lenders, HUD or VA regulations; or
(iv) acquiring as an investor, or personally,
				properties subject to a loan guaranteed or insured by HUD, collect rents
				thereon, while purposely failing to make mortgage payments on the property;
(l) failing to document
				in writing and obtain signatures by the parties to all agreements. Licensees
				shall document in writing, and have signed by the parties, any changes to the
				terms and provisions of the agreement which occur between the time a buy/sell
				is executed and the closing of a transaction;
(m) failing, as a seller's agent, to
				participate in negotiations as defined in
				37-51-102,
				MCA, unless the seller has waived this obligation in writing;
(n) failing, as a seller's agent, to submit
				to the seller all offers and counter offers received by the licensee until such
				time as a pending transaction has been closed or the listing agreement
				terminates unless the seller waives these obligations in writing. Seller agents
				are not obligated to continue to actively market the property after an offer
				has been accepted by the seller unless directed in writing to do so by the
				seller;
(o) failing, as a buyer
				agent, to participate in negotiations as defined in
				37-51-102,
				MCA, unless the buyer has waived these obligations in writing;
(p) failing, as a buyer agent, to submit to
				the buyer all offers and counter offers until an offer has been accepted or the
				buyer broker agreement terminates, unless the buyer waives these obligations in
				writing. Buyer agents are not obligated to show properties to their buyer after
				an offer has been accepted unless directed in writing to do so by the buyer;
(q) representing to any lender,
				guaranteeing agency, or other interested party, either orally or through the
				preparation of false documents, an amount other than the true and actual sale
				price of the real estate or terms differing from those actually agreed upon;
(r) when acting as a listing
				agent, disclosing the name of a person making an offer or the amount or terms
				of an offer to other persons interested in making offers. This shall not
				prohibit the listing agent from disclosing that an offer has been
				made;
(s) when acting as a buyer
				agent, disclosing to a client who is a principal to a real estate transaction,
				the name of a competing client who is also making an offer on the same property
				or disclosing the amount, terms or provisions of the competing client's
				offer;
(t) violating the
				residential tenants' security deposits laws of Title 70, chapter 25,
				MCA;
(u) violating the landlord and
				tenant residential and commercial laws of Title 70, chapter 26, MCA;
(v) violating the Montana Residential Mobile
				Home Lot Rental Act of Title 70, chapter 33, MCA;
(w) violating as a seller's agent, the radon
				disclosure requirements of Title 75, chapter 3, MCA;
(x) violating the Residential Lead-Based
				Paint Disclosure Program of Title X, section 1018 of the United States Code
				;
(y) failing, while acting as a
				property manager as defined in
				37-51-102,
				MCA, to abide by the requirements of Title 37, chapter 51, part 6, MCA, and the
				requirements of the Board of Realty Regulation's rules for property management
				as set forth in ARM
				24.210.805
				and
				24.210.828,
				except for the advertising requirements of ARM
				24.210.828(3)(u);
(z) violating the landlord tenant laws of
				Title 70, chapter 24, MCA;
(aa)
				violating the state and federal fair housing statutes;
(ab) violating the Americans with
				Disabilities Act;.
(ac)
				soliciting, selling, or offering for sale real property by conducting
				lotteries, raffles, or contests for the purpose of influencing a purchaser or
				prospective purchaser of real property. Door prizes can be awarded so long as
				the participant is not required to pay any consideration or enter into any
				contract arrangement in order to participate in the door prize
				drawing;
(ad) paying a commission
				in connection to a real estate sale or transaction to a person who is not
				licensed as a real estate broker or real estate salesperson under this chapter;
				however, payment to any principals, reducing the commission owed by any
				principals, or payments made to the seller of a real estate brokerage business
				even if the seller is no longer a licensee is not considered payment of a
				commission to an unlicensed person;
(ae) failing to disclose in advertising the
				licensee's name and identifying that the advertisement is made by a real estate
				licensee or that the advertising is made by a brokerage company;
(af) failing to comply with Internet
				advertising subject to the provisions of ARM
				24.210.430;
(ag) failing to disclose their identity as a
				real estate licensee at first contact;
(ah) failing to comply with all completion
				and reporting requirements for continuing education as established by the
				board;
(ai) failing to respond to a
				request from the board;
(aj)
				engaging in or conducting business as a real estate licensee, or advertising as
				a real estate licensee, or conducting the business of a real estate licensee at
				a time when the licensee's real estate license has expired or is on inactive
				status;
(ak) acting as a buyer
				agent without a written buyer broker agreement;
(al) acting as a seller agent without a
				written listing agreement;
(am)
				acting as a dual agent in a transaction if the licensee is a principal;
(an) acting as a dual agent in a
				transaction without a written agreement from each principal;
(ao) acting as a seller agent in a
				transaction if the licensee is the buyer in the same transaction;
(ap) acting as a buyer agent in a transaction
				if the licensee is the seller in the same transaction;
(aq) submitting a competing offer as a
				principal in a transaction with the licensee's client ;
(ar) failing to account for or
				misappropriation of funds being held in trust;
(as) failing to document any agreement
				allowing an agent's principal to negotiate directly with an opposing agent;
(at) failing as a listing agent on
				an entry-only listing to comply with all other statute and rule requirements of
				a real estate licensee;
(au) as a
				supervising broker, failing to immediately inform the broker's supervised
				salespersons that the supervising broker's license or endorsement has expired;
				or
(av) failing as a supervising
				broker to adequately supervise his or her salespeople. A supervising broker
				endorsement may be limited or revoked as a consequence of violating this
				subsection.