Florida Law
The focus of this module is to refresh legal concepts and their importance in the practice of real estate. For instance, because of the many divergent types of businesses and people that a brokerage deals with, it is essential that licensed sales associates and broker associates as well as brokers themselves are sufficiently knowledgeable about the laws regulating their profession. This module is designed to explore some of these distinctions as well as some of the general obligations of these individual licensees.
This module covers a broad range of issues related to license law. To help the student navigate this subject, it includes the following lessons:
- Registration and Partnerships
- Licensing and Examinations
- Real Estate Business Practices
In addition, this module includes a final practice lesson. This concluding lesson presents real-world dilemmas and concrete applications of the information presented in the rest of the course. As the student completes this course, he or she should try to develop a broad picture of license law, how it relates directly to him or her and its necessity within the practice of this profession. The last lesson will help with this objective by presenting comprehensive content questions, practice problems and case studies.
Fair Housing
This course covers broad issues on fair housing laws. Specifically, the student will learn: what fair housing laws exist, what classes of individuals are covered under these laws, how discrimination is defined in real estate, how can one avoid discriminating practices, and what the consequences are for non-compliance with fair housing laws. This module addresses the following topics:
- Introduction to Fair Housing
- Additional Legal Protections to Prevent Discrimination
- Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws
- Avoiding Discriminatory Practices
- Florida State Laws and Regulations
Asset Management
Asset Management is the term used for the decision-making process involved in maximizing returns on real property investments. This process includes such decisions as whether or not to renew a lease for a tenant, purchase or lease more assets, improve, sell or rent one’s current assets, etc. The asset manager must be aware of market trends and indicators and must be able to accurately predict the cash inflows and outflows of his or her own holdings. This module provides an introduction to the basics of asset management. It introduces the student to the key ideas and concepts of management as well as the techniques a manager will use to evaluate the market and evaluate the financial impact of alternatives in order to make properly informed decisions. The student will learn how to handle distressed properties and how to successfully market a revenue-increasing strategy.
Contracts Purchase & Sales Agreements
Clear, mutually-acceptable agreements are an essential component of the legal transference of ownership. In the practice of real estate, contracts are the instruments used to describe and record the agreements surrounding the conveyance of property. Some type of contract is nearly always involved, whether a salesperson is promising to sell a property within a specified period of time, a prospective buyer is placing an offer on a house or a seller is considering an offer on property.
Before entering into a legally binding agreement, real estate professionals must fully understand the contracts that govern their industry. Failure to understand contracts opens a licensee to various kinds of liability and can seriously damage one’s professional reputation. Therefore, it is vital that real estate professionals learn this material so that they can protect themselves against errors, oversights and misunderstandings.
In this module, the student will learn about the types of general contracts as well as the different kinds of real estate contracts. The module begins by providing the student with an overview of the various types of contracts: bilateral, unilateral, implied, express, executed, executory, valid, void, voidable and unenforceable. Once the student is introduced to the different types of contracts, he or she learns what makes a contract legally enforceable, this being the five components that make a contract valid: mutual assent, legally competent parties, consideration, lawful objective and adherence to a statute of frauds.