NOTE: The phone number originally given for the Richmond Association of Realtors was incorrect. It has been corrected in this version. The Virginia Association of Realtors is pleased to announce the addition of commercial forms to its Forms Center! Through a licensing agreement with Central Virginia Regional MLS, VAR will now provide the following forms: [...]

Recently we’ve learned that some home inspectors, as a service to real estate agents, are preparing inspection contingency removal addenda after performing the home inspection. Drafting contracts for others is the practice of law in Virginia, and it is therefore generally restricted to licensed attorneys. However, real estate licensees may do it if it’s incidental [...]

The Division of Utility and Railroad Safety of the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) has begun a campaign to educate the real estate industry about compliance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act. The Act essentially provides that notification must be made to “Miss Utility,” who then is to mark utility lines, when excavating on [...]

The Virginia Association of REALTORS® has made the following changes to its forms: Form 600 (Residential Contract of Purchase) has been updated. Section 18 has been revised to include statutorily required Consumer Real Estate Settlement Protection Act (CRESPA) disclosure language. Section 22 dealing with lead paint issues has been amended slightly to bring it into [...]

As you may know, the Virginia Real Estate Board (VREB) recently amended the Virginia Residential Disclosure Statement to comply with the provisions of House Bill 1856, enacted at the 2009 General Assembly. HB 1856 requires the following language to be included in the Disclosure Statement: The owner makes no representations with respect to the presence [...]

Blogmaster’s note: Please welcome VAR’s Associate Counsel, Blake Hegeman, as the newest VARbuzz contributor! Did you know that VAR has a library of commonly asked legal questions? It’s called the Legal Resources Center, and VAR members can access it on VARealtor.com after logging in. As calls come in to our Legal Hotline, Lem Marshall and [...]