Do you have a grievance with your real estate agent in NYC? We’ll talk about the many
ways you can file a complaint in this video.
I’m Nick at Hauseit. Check out our website www.hauseit.com to learn how to save money
on commission when buying and selling real estate in New York City, Long Island and the
Hudson Valley. So if you’re looking for a new real estate agent, and you’re interested
in saving money, please give us a shout. So let’s get started!
There are many avenues for consumers to file real estate agent complaints. These include
the New York Department of State, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust
Division.
Before we go further, we want to emphasize that filing a complaint against a real estate
agent is a very aggressive move, and should only be used as a last resort or if the agent
has threatened litigation against you. You should do everything possible to resolve your
grievance directly with an agent before deciding to move forward with a complaint.
This is because filing a complaint against a real estate agent is akin to launching a
massive nuclear strike against an opponent.
For example, filing a complaint against a Realtor is similar to filing a complaint with
your state’s Bar association against your lawyer, or filing a complaint with your state’s
medical board against your doctor.
Any such action is extremely provocative and subjects the accused professional to potential
fines, disciplinary action or even a revocation of their license.
If the accused loses his or her license, you will have essentially deprived someone of
their means of livelihood.
So, let’s go through each of the ways you can make a complaint:
Report the agent to the New York Department of State
You can report a real estate agent for misconduct either by mailing or emailing a complaint
to the NYS Division of Licensing Services.
You can file a complaint against a real estate agent on the New York Department of State
website, which contains a downloadable official Complaint Form as well as instructions on
where to email or mail the application.
Per the NY Department of State’s website:
“Should a member of the public believe that a licensee has acted in an untrustworthy or
incompetent manner, he or she may file a complaint with the Department’s Division of Licensing
Services. The complaint will be reviewed and an investigation will be commenced to determine
whether the licensee should be disciplined. Both the licensee and the complainant are
kept apprised of the proceedings. A licensee who is found to be in violation of the law
is subject to reprimand, fine, suspension or revocation.”
Report the agent to REBNY
New Yorkers can report an agent to the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) for misconduct,
incompetence or unethical behavior if the offending agent is a member of this New York
City based real estate association.
In order for you to pursue this avenue, the agent you have a grievance with must be a
member of REBNY. Keep in mind that there is no single, dominant Realtor association or
Realtor-associated MLS in NYC as is commonplace in other parts of the country.
If the real estate agent is member of a different association, such as HGMLS or MLSLI, you would
need to pursue the agent through the appropriate trade group.
That being said, Manhattan based REBNY operates as the de facto real estate agent trade association
in NYC given its prominence, so chances are that the agent you’re dealing with is a
REBNY member.
Per REBNY’s Code of Ethics:
“If an alleged Code violation involves an issue over money, the matter can be handled
by voluntary mediation or binding arbitration. Non-monetary disputes are resolved by the
Ethics Committees or subcommittees of the Residential Brokerage and Commercial Brokerage
Divisions. For members of REBNY’s Residential Brokerage Division, the RLS Universal Co-brokerage
Agreement Rules and Regulations supplement the Code of Ethics.”
Although the REBNY website does not have an easy way to file a complaint against a real
estate agent, we recommend either calling the main REBNY phone number and asking whom
you can contact to file a complaint as a member of the public, or calling the number listed
for REBNY Counsel.
Report the agent to HUD for fair housing complaints
If you believe you have been the victim of fair housing law violations, such as steering
or discrimination, then this is a federal matter that should be reported to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can file a complaint online on the HUD
website in either English or Spanish.
The HUD website also provides a number to call to report fair housing violations by
telephone, and also provides members of the public with a form that they can print out
and mail to their regional Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office.
Report the agent to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division
Consumers can report real estate agents to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division
for violations of antitrust laws, such as such as price fixing, boycotting of discount
brokers, bid rigging and market allocation.
You can submit your complaint to the Citizen Complaint Center by email, phone or mail.
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division does not have a standard complaint form that
needs to be filled out.
So there you have it! If you’re interested in learning more about possible examples of
when a formal complaint is justified, please check out our blog post on the Hauseit website.
The URL is below: https://www.hauseit.com/real-estate-agent-complaints-and-how-to-protect-yourself/
We hope you enjoyed this video, and if you did, please like, subscribe and leave us a
comment. We’d greatly appreciate it. I’m Nick at Hauseit, and we’ll seen you on the
next video!