From: Jay Reifert [true-agents@true-agent.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 8:04 PM To: Oppose the WRA--Defeat Designated Agency Subject: Call to Action!!! Defeat WRA's Proposed Designated Agency Legislation [This open message to my fellow Wisconsin Realtors, is being sent to the thousands of technologically astute ones who have email. Further, it is being sent to the media, consumer activists, lobbyists, and other parties who should have an interest in understanding and opposing this proposed legislation.] Fellow Realtors, VERY soon, the Wisconsin Realtors Association, WRA, will be introducing--via legislative proxy--a deceptive, fatally-flawed, anti-consumer, piece of legislation called Designated Agency. Left to become law, this legislation will eventually cost our industry as ever more educated consumers begin peeling away the layers of deception to gaze upon the ugly, self-serving nonsense within. You may think that this won't have any impact on you, but it will, if for no other reason than consumer-oriented Realtors like myself are going to keep working and educating consumers until the sham is fully exposed. Designated Agency is a marketing ploy where the managing broker of a firm can appoint one agent in a transaction to represent a seller and another in the same transaction to represent a buyer, while magically causing any conflict of interest to simply disappear. Truth is, nothing has changed, except that consumer buyers and sellers have yet again had something of value removed from them, just as they did when the WRA succeeded in passing the Agency "Reform" Act of 1994. This time, it will be a further erosion of the accountability and other duties that FIRMS have to their clients. Designated Agency is supposed to have the consumer believe that a single firm is going to fight against itself to help clients with opposing interests each get the best deal. Further, it ignores the reality that when one firm has the ability to exercise influence and--ostensibly--control over two parties in the same transaction, the firm has opportunity, in addition to motive, to engage in dealmaking, instead of watching out for each client's respective best interests, AS DEMANDED BY THE COMMON LAW OF AGENCY. Fellow Realtors, it is time for us to stop talking out of both sides of our mouths. When it comes to public trust, we already rate way down at the bottom of the scale and allowing a sham concept like designated agency a place in our statutes is only going to further erode consumer confidence. What needs to happen, is that the Mega-Brokers who control the WRA and have met behind closed doors to create and push this concept need to take a step back and realize that the common law of agency is what offers us the ability to stop pretending to be all things to all people, and gain some respect in the process. These Mega-Brokers need to further recognize that there are often conflicts which are inherent, not only between the parties, but often between the interests of the firm and the parties and that only by returning to practicing in accordance with the highest standards of consumer protection--those that are found under the common law of agency--will we ever be deserving of the public's trust and confidence. It would have been nice to have been allowed a seat on the committee that actually addressed Designated Agency when it was first being discussed, but, as the WRA has refused to allow myself or any other consumer activist Realtor a seat at the table, there is now no alternative but to take our case public. Just as I have assembled your email addresses into my addressbook, I also have over three hundred fifty media contacts, the email address of every legislator and their staff, every registered lobbyist in Wisconsin, nearly a hundred local, state and national consumer activist groups and am looking for help--from those of you willing--to spread the word even farther to other interested parties...not the least of which would be to consumers. If you don't want to receive further messages from me, feel free to write me back with your name and email address and I will gladly remove you from this private list. Otherwise, I will continue to send you periodic messages and will point you toward resources--some of which appear farther down this message--which will help you better understand Designated Agency, and why it is imperative that we stop this legislation. (Before you opt for removal, you may want to consider that you are EXTREMELY unlikely to get the full story on Designated Agency from any other source.) If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me by return email. Those of you who respond with courtesy will be accorded courtesy in return. Those of you who respond with derision or scorn--if any--will not receive a response. (I don't have time to waste on people who've already chosen to embrace the deception.) Here is a link you can use to find out who your legislators are and how to contact them: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/wamltest/ Here are some links to gain a better understanding of Designated Agency. You will see, in some instances, references to Michigan. Though there may be minor differences in how states approach Designated Agency, the core deceptions are the same. http://www.ired.com/buymyself/agency/990930.htm http://www.realdefenders.com/ray.htm http://realdefenders.com/nader.htm http://www.agencylaw.com/rounds.htm http://www.realdefenders.com/nrecn.htm http://realdefenders.com/tom.htm http://www.realdefenders.com/erle.htm If you are truly interested in helping defeat this legislation, I would sincerely appreciate your printing out copies of any information which you feel may be helpful and distributing this to your officemates who may not be as email proficient as you are. Thank you for your time and patience. Undoubtedly, you will be receiving an urgent counter-appeal from the Wisconsin Realtors Association sometime soon. -- Sincerely Yours, Jay Reifert, Broker/Owner*****************Excel-Exclusive Buyer Agency 100% Homebuyer Representation********5136 E. Hilltop Road 100% Of The Time****************************Madison, Wisconsin 53711 South Central Wisconsin's ONLY********(800)928-9379, Toll Free Full-Time Exclusive Buyer Agency Firm.***(608)273-8841, Office Visit http://www.true-agent.com ***********(608)273-8388, Fax Machine or mailto:true-agents@true-agent.com Check out our NEW website, at: http://www.Buy-Madison-Real-Estate.com