Transparency is sweeping the housing industry with everyone from trade associations and brokerage leaders to agents and consumers claiming they want more transparency in the home buying and selling process.
For agents looking to up their commitment to transparency, Housing Rebel by Selling Later, a group created by Consumer Policy Center (CPC) fellow Wendy Glich, has launched its “Transparent Agent Certification” program. The CPC is for consumers and industry professionals to connect without having their data tracked or sold
The new certification comes after Gilch said many of Housing Rebel by Selling Later’s agent members, who stopped including buyer agent compensation in listing agreements prior to the business practice changes in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement went into effect, “got absolutely roasted for their actions.” Gilch said she received countless screenshots showing other agents saying terrible things about those listings.
“Between the settlement and current lawsuits on referral fees and RESPA violations, our buyer and seller members kept asking us to help them find agents who don’t engage in practices this industry has been sued for,” Gilch wrote in an email.
According to Gilch, in some areas, it was easy for her and the Housing Rebel team to match consumers with several agents for them to choose from who didn’t engage in any of these practices, but in other areas, due to a lack of current members or relationships, it was much harder, prompting her to create the “Transparent Agent Certification” program.
Rebel agents are committed to transparency, says Gilch
Under the program, agents who are certified will appear in a new searchable list of other certified agents on the Housing Rebel website alongside the site’s existing agent listings.
According to Gilch, while certified “Transparent Agents” have demonstrated a greater commitment to transparency, both certified and non-certified agents serve “important purposes” because “not every consumer is looking for this level of commitment.”
“As consumers learn more about what transparency means and why it matters, we expect this category to grow,” Gilch wrote in an email. “Our goal is to educate buyers and sellers on the value of these practices so they can make informed choices about who represents them.”
Requirements are stringent
Housing Rebel has opened an application for agents looking to become certified. The requirements are stringent. Agents must supply the group with a copy of their current license; signed attestations that they do not include buyer-side commissions in their listing agreement, that they don’t accept or pay referral fees and that they do not practice dual agency; proof that they have closed at least eight transactions in the past 12 months; sample buyer representation and listing agreements showing transparent compensation disclosures and demonstrating compliance with the NAR settlement requirements; a statement explaining their commitment to consumer protection; a biography and head shot; and any professional designations or certifications.
Glich acknowledged that some agents use their state-provided listing agreements or buyer representation agreements which may not address everything Housing Rebel by Selling Later is looking for, or they may allow for things like dual agency or establishing an up front offer of buyer broker compensation. In these instances, Gilch said she and the Housing Rebel by Selling Later team will work with these applicants one-on-one to find out their personal plans regarding things like dual agency and listing agreements.
“They will sign agreements with us to ensure they stay in compliance and if not, they are booted down to the regular agent section,” Gilch wrote.
The group said applications are typically reviewed and returned within five business days. Gilch said agents will have to renew their certification each year.
Building the trust of consumers
“If we are going to put our name behind someone, we are going to look into every nook and cranny we can find,” she wrote. “It’s taken me years to build the trust of consumers, and that only came from being honest and spending each and every day working to better protect them. I am not going to throw that way for some agent who wants to slip through the cracks.”
According to Gilch, the best way to combat the narrative that listing agents need to advertise offers of buyer broker compensation in order to sell a home is to highlight the agents who have changed their practices and understand why it is important to do so.
Housing Rebel by Selling Later currently has roughly 350 members, which include a mix of consumers and providers. Members pay a yearly membership fee of roughly $100, which provides them with access to monthly meetings, a public profile on the Housing Rebel website, industry connections and updates on litigation and important stories in the industry.
The group does not take referral fees from agents or sell leads to agents.
Looking ahead, Gilch said that once the “Transparent Agent Certification” program is firmly in place, the group plans to open up an an Independent Mortgage Broker certification, which will “highlight the brokers who truly do shop around for their clients, and not the ones who send 99% of their business to the same company because they earn points and get a free trip to another state.”