Court Opinion

ID: 9858491
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:25:53.715905+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:54:38.531395
License: Public Domain

UHLENHOPP, Justice
(dissenting).
I think the commission’s rule is invalid because it is beyond the scope of the legislatively delegated rule-making power.
The commission is an agency of the executive branch. In promulgating the rule the commission relied on section 117.9 of the Code:
The commission is empowered to promulgate rules to carry out and administer the provisions of this chapter consistent therewith. Said commission may carry on a program, of education of real estate practices and matters relating thereto.
Under this section a rule must “carry out and administer the provisions of this chapter consistent therewith.” I do not find that the chapter deals with listings. It deals primarily with licensing and “de-li-censing” of realtors. I will review, as succinctly as possible, the sections of chapter 117.
Section 117.1 prohibits a person without a license from acting as a realtor. Section 117.2 deals with licenses in groups of individuals acting as realtors. Section 117.3 defines a real estate broker, and section 117.4 defines real estate. Section 117.5 defines a salesperson and an apprentice salesperson. Section 117.6 delineates acts which constitute dealing in real estate; it does not mention requirements for listing contracts. Section 117.7 states exceptions to the licensing requirement — such as sales by attorneys. Section 117.8 establishes the state real estate commission and specifies its makeup. Section 117.9 is the quoted rule-making provision. Section 117.11 authorizes the commission to employ a director. Section 117.12 sets the compensation of the commissioners. Section 117.13 deals with a commission seal and records. Section 117.14 provides that commission fees and expenses shall be paid into and from the state’s general fund. Section 117.-15 states the requirements for obtaining a license, including examinations; it does not deal with contracts between realtors and listers. Section 117.16 provides for application forms to obtain licenses. Section 117.-18 authorizes commission rules connected with applications for licenses. Section 117.-19 entitles unsuccessful applicants for licenses to hearings. Section 117.20 covers examinations taken by applicants; it does not pertain to listings of property by owners. Sections 117.21, .22, and .23 deal with nonresident licensees, their places of business, and actions against them. Sections 117.24 and .25 deal with custody and display of licenses, and section 117.26 deals with pocket cards of licensees. Section 117.27 has to do with commission fees for examinations and licenses. Sections 117.28 and .29 deal with expiration, revocation, and suspension of licenses. Section 117.30 makes a license a prerequisite to an action by a realtor seeking compensation for services; it does not require a listing to be in any particular form and does not deal with the subject of listing. Sections 117.31 and .32 deal with realtors’ places of business and with changes of location of those places. Section 117.33 deals with changes of employment by salespersons and apprentices. Section 117.34 has to do with commission investigation of realtors’ wrongful acts, such as misrepresentation or failure to account for moneys in their possession, and gives the commission power to suspend or revoke licenses. Sections 117.35, .36, .37, .38, .39, .40, and .41 deal with hearings on charges against licensees; attendance fees and mileage of witnesses; right to witnesses; disobedience of subpoenas; depositions; and findings of fact. Section 117.-42 requires the commission to maintain a list of licensees. Section 117.43 makes disobedience of any of the foregoing provisions a misdemeanor. Section 117.44 authorizes actions to enforce those provisions. Section 117.45 prohibits a realtor from using two or more written or oral contracts for the sale of a parcel of realty in order to obtain a *556larger loan; the section does not deal with the listing agreement. Section 117.46 deals with realtors’ trust accounts. Sections 117.-50, .51, and .52 deal with commission meetings, public members, and confidential information. Finally, section 117.53 contains a licensee grandfather clause.
The subject of the form or contents of contracts between realtors and listers does not come within the scope of the chapter. We are already inundated by a proliferation of agency rules. I do not think we should enlarge agencies’ rule-making powers additionally by construing statutes beyond what appears to be legislative intent in those statutes. If listing contracts ought to be in writing, the General Assembly can so provide as it has done with certain other contracts in the statute of frauds; or it can, with the inclusion of standards or safeguards, authorize the commission to deal by rule with the subject of the form or content of listing contracts. In my judgment the General Assembly has done neither of these things in chapter 117, and a rational agency could not conclude that the rule in question is within its statutory authority. Hiserote Homes, Inc. v. Riedemann, 277 N.W.2d 911, 913 (Iowa 1979).
I believe that the rule in question does not come within the scope of the commission’s authority. I would therefore uphold the judgment of the district court.
LeGRAND, McGIVERIN and LARSON, JJ., join in this dissent.