The reactions from members of the real estate agent community to ARCServ have been strong and varied. We have had real estate agents ask to join ARCServ, while others have threatened to boycott ARCServ and all associated with it.

Although ARCServ does oppose the position of the National Association of Realtors that real estate agents should be the first point of contact in a real estate transaction, we believe real estate agents play an important and essential role in the transaction process. Our position is that consumers should exercise their right to get competent legal counsel prior to embarking on the largest business transaction of their lives.

The real estate market has changed dramatically over the last 15 years. Not only have home prices increased substantially, but so have the number of real estate agents. The agreements used in real estate transactions have become increasingly complicated.

Prior to starting ARCServ, I spoke with a number of real estate agents. Largely, they expressed frustration that there were too many real estate agents, often properties were represented by agents they felt were not competent to handle them, and that frequently consumers made transaction decisions based on erroneous information provided by other agents.

Personally, I believe that there are many incredible real estate agents who provide outstanding value and service to their clients. I am aware that at least one of these agents is greatly offended by this site and for that I am deeply saddened.

I also believe that nationwide the role of real estate attorneys has been diminished to the detriment of consumers. The original intent of this trend was to save consumers money. The thought was that on relatively small residential transactions attorney’s fees were unjustifiably large. The results have been disastrous. National statistics show that in areas were attorneys have been largely removed from residential real estate transactions, consumer costs are higher than those areas attorneys play a prominent role in real estate transactions*. Over the last 15 years while home prices have risen dramatically, attorney’s fees have remained relatively stable. As a result, the increased role of the real estate attorney in the ARCServ model offers the consumer both a better degree of protection and a cost effective way to achieve it.

Recently, several real estate agents have raised a variety of questions of how the attorneys select real estate agents to work with and what is the nature of the relationship between the attorney and the real estate agent. The attorneys choose which real estate agents they will recommend based on their knowledge of that agents performance in the past for their clients. At no point does ARCServ tell an attorney which real estate agents to choose. The attorney works for, is paid by and has a fiduciary responsibility to the consumer. At no time will a real estate agent be asked to compensate an attorney for a referral either monetarily or by quid pro quo practice. This practice is strictly prohibited both in the attorneys signed agreement with ARCServ as well as by their own rules of ethics.

*Source: Federal Housing Finance Board data