Common Complaints Against Florida Real Estate Agents

Complaints filed against you as a Florida Real Estate Agent can be damaging not only to your character and reputation but also to your license. We’ve compiled some of the most typical complaints facing Real Estate Agents, what the Florida Statute requires, and how you can challenge a complaint.

1. Failure to report a conviction or plea.  Florida Statutes requires a license to report any conviction of a crime (or Plea deal) within 30 days.  If the licensee does not, it will result in an investigation and an Administrative Complaint.
2. Failure to properly account for escrow funds.  All escrow funds must be accounted for even through closing. If there is no proper accounting, there will be an investigation and an Administrative Complaint.
3. Brokers must have a Florida license in order to do a deal.  There are plenty of out of state investors attempting to broker a deal in Florida without a license.  Even if they use a Florida Broker to do the deal.  There must still be an arms-length deal between the Florida Broker and the non-Florida Broker.  Thus the Florida Broker could be aiding and abetting unlicensed activity. 
4. Failure to report discipline in another state.  If a licensee has licenses in multiple states, you must report any and all disciplinary cases to FREC. 
5. Failure to report a previous arrest on your license application.

Received a Complaint? Here’s What’s Next

If you have received a real estate complaint knowing your options is the first best step.

You need to respond to the investigation. An experienced real estate license attorney can help you to the Admin Complaint appropriately.

Learn more about your rights and responsibilities on how to proceed in this blog about Challenging a FREC Complaint.

Reviewing these top five complaints can help you avoid issues and adhere to proper reporting on escrow, discipline and arrests.

Need Legal Help? Let’s Talk

Contact the law offices of Howell, Buchan & Strong, Attorneys at Law for your free consultation at any one of our locations:

Orlando (407) 717-1773 |Tallahassee (850) 877-7776 | Tampa (813) 833-6726 | Sarasota (941) 779-4348