How Can Realtors Reduce Their Errors and Omissions Risks?

How Can Realtors Reduce Their Errors and Omissions Risks?

In a two part blog post we published in October 2013, we talked about the different Errors and Omissions risks that your residential real estate agent clients may face; such as environmental liability, claims against RESPA, violating the ADA, and more. These claims tend to be among the most common faced by realtors. Just because they are susceptible to these legal claims though, doesn’t mean there is nothing they can do about it.

Protecting themselves financially with the right Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance policy is the fool-proof way to ensure Realtors won’t face hefty financial consequences in a lawsuit, but there are also steps they can take that may reduce their errors and omissions risks as well. The following are some basic risk reduction strategies as noted by E&O insurance experts.

Create written customer service policies. Get it in writing! Not only does this help keep a realtor organized and thorough, it will help them build strong customer rapport.

Take classes. This shows commitment to the real estate industry, and can make your realtor client appear more reputable and trusted, if their client knows they have the best educational background possible.

Keep paper trails. This goes for any industry, but maintaining transaction logs to record what’s been discussed with clients, and saving electronic copies of every transactional document, can save a lot of time and headaches should the realtor face an allegation of any kind.

Ask a lawyer for advice. Sometimes the best way to avoid a lawsuit is to be proactive; brining in a lawyer who’s experienced in litigating real estate matters may help realtors assess their risks and get accurate advice on risk management strategies.

These are just a few of the steps that your realtor clients can take to protect themselves. At PLRisk Advisors, we feature Errors and Omissions insurance across a variety of professions, as well as Directors and Officers insurance, EPLI, Privacy & Network Security, Commercial Crime, and Fiduciary insurance. Please contact us for more information at (855) 403-5982.