Senate Bill 2647, the PCDS Licensee Liability bill and MAR’s #1 Legislative Priority, has been passed and signed into law, effective immediately. The PCDS is still a valuable and important tool for all parties. What does the new law mean for our members?

Your actions related to the PCDS should be “business as usual”, but there are some significant changes.
What has changed?

• A licensee cannot face disciplinary action by the MREC for any inaccuracy or omission by a Seller on the PCDS.
• The current MREC Informational Statement and the Seller’s Statement of Exclusion no longer comply with state law and should not be used at this time. We are told revisions to these two forms and revisions to the PCDS itself are in the works at MREC and should be available soon.

 What has NOT changed?

• A Seller is still required to complete a PCDS when a licensee is involved in a transaction.
• A Seller must complete the PCDS, not the licensee.
• A completed PCDS must be made available to a potential Buyer, a task typically performed via licensees.
• If not in receipt of a PCDS prior to making an offer, the Buyer still has 3 days after delivery of the PCDS in person or 5 days after delivery by mail to terminate an offer.
• A Seller still needs to amend the PCDS if changes to the property occur.  After any material amendment, the Buyer still has 3 days after delivery of the amended PCDS in person or 5 days after delivery by mail to terminate an offer.
• A licensee is still required to disclose information about known defects as required by state law and may be disciplined by MREC for failure to do so.  A licensee can still be liable for fraud, misrepresentation or negligence.

Here are a few Best Practices to help you, as a licensee, serve your clients responsibly and professionally:

• Continue to explain the PCDS to Sellers at the time of listing the property and give them instructions for completing the form.
• Continue to review the Seller’s PCDS for completeness once they have filled it out.
• Continue to distribute the completed PCDS through MLS (where MLS requires) and other means, such as an Open House or on-site at the listing.
• Continue to deliver/distribute any amendments made by the Seller.
• Continue to disclose any additional known material facts about the property as the agent.

MAR is in the process of reviewing MAR’s Standard Forms to ensure that all necessary changes are made to reflect the new law.  Since MREC is working on updates to the Informational Statement and the Seller’s Statement of Exclusion, MAR will watch for those updates and make any changes necessary to its Standard Forms.

Courtesy of MS REALTORS