Known for its beauty, history, and affordability, West Virginia consistently wins the loyalty of longtime residents while attracting new ones. Both demographics can find great homes to help them enjoy the state's advantages, thanks to the dedication of its real estate agents and other industry professionals. However, that's only true if these professionals maintain valid licenses.
Are you a real estate broker, agent, or property manager practicing in West Virginia? If so, knowing how to protect your career should be one of your top priorities. Protect yourself from real estate license sanctions now and in the future by calling the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
Who Handles Real Estate Licenses in West Virginia?
Operating as an independent government agency, the West Virginia Real Estate Commission (WVRE) takes care of everything related to real estate, including choosing and enforcing the local laws, policies, and procedures pertaining to the industry. Depending on the real estate career you pick, the WVRE Commission requires you to abide by certain rules. Read on for details.
Real Estate Agent/Salesperson
Whether they involve land, houses, apartment buildings, or commercial properties, West Virginia demands that all transactions and legal affairs regarding real estate must be handled by a real estate agent or salesperson. If they wish, buyers and sellers can provide written consent for a single salesperson to act for both sides of a transaction, making them a dual agent.
Regardless, all agents and salespeople in West Virginia are expected to hang their licenses with brokerages rather than practice independently.
Aspiring real estate agents must complete a WVRE-approved 90-hour course covering the basics of real estate principles, laws, appraisals, and finances. They must also achieve a minimum score of 70% in each of those subjects.
Real Estate Broker
In West Virginia, real estate brokers have all the same responsibilities as agents and salespeople, except that they're often in charge of entire firms and/or teams. They have the means and authority to handle the listings, commissions, client negotiations, marketing, benefits, finances, employee training, coordination, discipline, and other necessary elements of a successful brokerage.
Per the WVRE, real estate brokers must pass courses approved by the commission as well. If the would-be brokers already have real estate sales licenses, the course only needs to be 90 hours long. A 180-hour course is required for those starting from scratch.
Either way, the broker courses demand that applicants pass classes on interpersonal skills, human resources, managing and operating brokerages, and state-specific broker laws with scores of at least 70% each.
Property Manager
Rental and leased properties need a lot of consistent attention. Tenants have to sign and adhere to contracts and payment agreements. Sometimes, they need help settling disputes or legal issues pertaining to their homes. There's also the matter of hiring, firing, managing, and paying office personnel, maintenance technicians, landscapers, and other employees.
Property managers can handle all these tasks, provided they have agent/salesperson or broker licenses. That means they need only complete the same 90- or 180-hour courses that other real estate professionals do.
Investor
Some property managers are also investors, meaning that they lease or manage homes or buildings that they intend to flip or add to a professional portfolio. From the smallest towns to Charleston, Huntington, Wheeling, Parkersburg, Morgantown, and other areas in West Virginia, people who handle their own investment transactions and properties must have real estate licenses.
However, there isn't a specific license for real estate investing. Those who build careers out of it must simply obtain a general real estate agent license, with all its educational and legal requirements.
What Does West Virginia Consider a Real Estate License Violation?
Upon obtaining a real estate license in West Virginia, you must agree to comply with the rules, regulations, and policies that the WVRE established via the West Virginia Real Estate License Act and Legislative Rules. Updated in June 2024, this piece of legislation outlines what actions could result in sanctions against an agent, broker, manager, or investor. They are listed below.
Acting Outside of One's Professional Scope
Real estate professionals have the training and qualifications to handle many tasks, but there are certain actions and decisions they are obligated to avoid. For example, they're not allowed to survey or appraise properties, nor can they offer legal advice to their clients. Doing more than they are authorized to do is sure to result in an investigation from the WVRE.
Obtaining a Real Estate License by Deceit
Of course, everything that a person could do in the real estate industry would be considered acting outside their scope if their license was invalid. Should the WVRE discover that a real estate salesperson, broker, property manager, or investor cheated or lied on their licensing exams or applications, they'll face severe sanctions.
Engaging in Dishonesty or Misrepresentation
There are other ways that real estate professionals can deceive people, too. They could be guilty of untrue or misleading advertising or contract signing, making professional contracts or promises that they cannot or will not keep, or falsely pretending to belong to a particular firm or organization, to name just a few examples. Disciplinary action often follows such violations.
Mismanaging Finances
Real estate agents, brokers, and investors are responsible for significant transactions, commission payments, escrow accounts, and other financial matters. As such, these licensed professionals must keep track of all the money exchanged and ensure that it goes to the right places. Failing to do so—whether purposely or by accident—is an egregious violation that can easily lead to sanctions.
Refusing to Practice with a Licensed Brokerage
As stated previously, real estate agents in West Virginia must work with a brokerage. They can't act independently unless they become brokers themselves. If they try to operate in the industry without a brokerage, or if they knowingly involve themselves with a fake or unlicensed firm, the WVRE may bar them from practicing at all.
Providing or Soliciting Legal Representation for Clients
Again, although real estate professionals are expected to be knowledgeable about the laws of their industry, they're not allowed to give legal advice to their clients. It stands to reason, then, that they can't act as attorneys themselves. They must also refrain from trying to drum up business for legal attorneys they know. Otherwise, they could be investigated and disciplined.
Breaking State and Federal Real Estate Laws
The WVRE has enacted numerous local real estate laws meant to encourage fairness and honesty among all its licensed professionals. Furthermore, it requires all industry professionals to comply with any relevant federal laws, such as the Fair Housing Act, and to avoid unethical practices, like steering, blockbusting, net listing, or discrimination in general. Those who break these laws may quickly find themselves sanctioned by the WVRE.
Being Convicted of a Crime
Outside of state and federal real estate laws, some misdemeanors and felonies are serious enough for the WVRE to consider denying, suspending, restricting, or revoking professional licenses. If you're convicted of theft, fraud, assault, extortion, embezzling, harassment, bribery, forgery, or similar crimes that throw your professionalism and trustworthiness into question, the WVRE may stall or halt your career with sanctions.
Demonstrating Professional Incompetence or Negligence
Earning a real estate license doesn't make anyone good at their job. The WVRE may investigate or impose sanctions on anyone whose poor performance suggests a lack of care or understanding about the industry.
Examples include losing or prematurely destroying contracts and other documents or failing to obtain written consent from clients before facilitating real estate transactions. Brokers can also be accused of incompetence if they don't adequately train, manage, or supervise the agents in their firm.
How West Virginia Disciplines Real Estate License Violations
If you're suspected of violating the rules for real estate professionals, the WVRE Commission will likely begin investigating, which could lead to a variety of disciplinary measures. This is the process you can expect the case to follow.
A Deeper Look into the Complaint
The WVRE only accepts complaints made in writing. Upon receiving it, the commissioners will seek to “ascertain the facts,” which could include launching a formal investigation that would consist of evidence analysis, interviews, statements, and more.
You will receive a copy of the complaint, too, and you'll have 20 days to address it. The WVRE may view your lack of response as an admission of guilt.
Invitation to a Hearing
If the WVRE deems it necessary, they'll schedule a hearing in which you'll have the opportunity to defend yourself. Whether you're determined to prove your innocence or garner sympathy from the commissioners by describing any mitigating circumstances, this is your best chance at avoiding or minimizing sanctions to your real estate license. On top of this, you might be required to pay any costs incurred to hold the hearing.
Disciplinary Assignment
In the event that the WVRE Commission finds you guilty, they may choose to enact a number of different disciplinary measures. Below is a list of the possibilities.
Formal Reprimand or Censure
For minor violations, the WVRE may simply issue a formal reprimand or public censure. It acknowledges that you did something wrong, urges you to do better (often by pointing out specific improvements the commissioners would expect you to make), and provides a record of your behavior in case it could inform or influence adjudications for future violations.
As disciplinary measures ago, a reprimand is arguably the least severe. Still, since the WVRE makes offers public records of complaints, hearings, and resolutions, you could still have trouble doing business and earning clients' trust.
Fees, Fines, or Financial Restitution
Few things discourage misconduct like impacting a person's financial stability, so the WVRE might require you to pay administrative fees or fines. Also, if your misconduct was financially damaging to someone else, the WVRE could demand that you compensate them as part of your punishment.
Either way, you'll be saddled with new expenses you didn't anticipate. In addition to the record becoming available to the public, your career might end up stunted as you try to get out of your debt to the WVRE and/or plaintiff.
Remedial Education
Perhaps the WVRE might feel that you'd benefit from reviewing or supplementing your real estate education. In that case, they may require you to spend your own time and money completing remedial education courses before you'd be allowed to fully practice again.
Downgrade of License
Say that you earned a broker license in West Virginia. Some complaints could convince the WVRE that you can't actually be trusted with that much leadership or responsibility, so they might downgrade your real estate license to that of an agent or salesperson. Working your way back up the industry ladder would likely derail your career.
License Suspension
Known as license suspension, the WVRE may temporarily remove your right to practice real estate for a certain period and/or until you meet certain conditions or requirements to regain their trust.
A suspension could be combined with other sanctions. That is, you may have to satisfy or endure the disciplinary actions previously described to lift the suspension. While it's good that you can eventually return to real estate, the gap in your career could have ripple effects for years.
License Revocation or Denial
You might be trying to obtain a real estate license for the first time, or maybe you need to renew it. In all these cases, the WVRE may decide not to grant or renew your real estate license based on your violations or the complaints against you. They can also revoke current licenses.
In all these cases, you would be stripped of your right to practice real estate at all. The WVRE Commission would let you petition for reinstatement after one year, but the approval process may include an investigation and extra scrutiny from a deputy real estate commissioner.
Considering the time you need to wait, the publication of your disciplinary process, and the additional hurdles you'd have to clear for reinstatement, your career would almost certainly suffer because of revocation.
How Can the Lento Law Firm Help You?
Dealing with the stress of a complaint against you while trying to minimize any interruption to your career can take a toll on your health. Plus, real estate law can be complex to navigate, and you might not know how to effectively advocate for yourself.
That's why it's imperative to get the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at your side as soon as you receive word of the complaint. Their skillful defense tactics combined with their extensive understanding of West Virginia real estate law is the game changer that you would need to keep your career intact. They'll take on the stress for you so that you can focus on doing what you do best.
Let Nothing Stop You from Working in Real Estate in West Virginia
You can enjoy a long, happy, and rewarding career practicing real estate in West Virginia as long as you protect yourself from license sanctions. Whether you're dealing with complaints and accusations in the present or wish to prepare yourself for the future, the Lento Law Firm can help. Learn more today by calling the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
