We asked agents what the biggest legal gray area is that they encounter in their day-to-day business. Of the responses we received, “Agency,” “Dual Agency,” “Disclosure” and “Procuring Cause” were the most common, but we received many other interesting responses from agents:

•“Executing contracts. Technically, you are only supposed to fill in the blanks, but somehow it’s okay to mark up some items, though things like escalation clauses are becoming more and more taboo/unacceptable. The consensus is to not do an escalation clause on the contract because that’s practicing law, but how is marking up other parts of the contract (for instance, if you cross something out or write in another wording for a date or something similar) not technically the same thing? All contracts are subject to the attorney review period, so this is definitely a hotly debated grey area.”

•“Fair housing: what you can say or not say without crossing a line or getting into trouble.”

•“How to answer questions about neighborhood safety, shootings and crime, and how the schools are in a given area, while being sure to follow fair housing laws.”

•“Internet syndication of listings – copyright issues with text descriptions and ownership of photographs. Agents should be able to own their intellectual property!”

•“Market Service Agreements, ABAs and Joint Ventures – anything that may make a client question why I recommend a vendor.”

•“My license is in my formal name, but I use my nickname on all my business materials. I was told recently that might not be allowed.”