Imagine finding out that the property you just purchased is not actually yours because the seller never owned it in the first place. This is a growing problem where criminals transfer the deed to a property or home Continue Reading
You have a showing and are excited to hear about the feedback, but you find out the buyers’ realtor had been making disparaging statements about you in your own home. This is what happened during a showing when the Continue Reading
Every property owner wants the transition into their new home to be seamless. However, sometimes the previous owner, who gladly accepted your hard-earned money for the purchase of their home, leaves personal Continue Reading
This seems to be a popular question lately, so we wanted to share PBI Group’s thoughts on the matter. Residential real estate brokerages often have a website and email domain for their agency but not all or Continue Reading
Cyber insurance is now a requirement for many real estate brokerages. This comes as more and more cybercriminals are successful in their attempts to steal information and money from real estate agents nationwide. At Continue Reading
Real estate agents are at the center of every deal, causing them to face unavoidable challenges. It’s taxing enough to satisfy brokers, lenders, other agents, appraisers, and clients who demand time and expect Continue Reading
Some emotionally sensitive people with psychiatric ailments rely on emotional support animals (ESA) to help them cope. For example, an ESA aids people with disabilities or mental health issues and is part of the Continue Reading
The pandemic is causing significant changes in every business. For example, selling homes to buyers sight unseen has become a widespread practice for real estate agents. People want to move to a distant location but Continue Reading
For real estate professionals, it is a legal, ethical, and courteous practice to fully disclose all facts that directly affect the value of a property, particularly any details that influence a buyer’s perspective. Continue Reading
In every real estate transaction, agents and brokerages have a duty to inform buyers of material facts about the property being sold. Failure to do so can result in expensive legal claims. When a real estate agent Continue Reading
Originally passed by Congress as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act is an important piece of legislation that prohibits discrimination by direct providers of housing, including real estate Continue Reading
Real estate professionals are exposed to numerous risks as they represent buyers and sellers. These risks are only compounded when agents do not perform due diligence before or during the sale of a property. The Continue Reading
Real Estate E&O Claims Spotlight: Archiving Communications (Email and Text Messages) Per Transaction
Real estate professionals have a tremendous number of conversations with clients, agents, and other 3rd parties related to a transaction. Often this transaction-level communication is shared verbally or via Continue Reading
Real estate professionals are bound by a duty of care to disclose material facts that can influence the value or desirability of a given property. Failure to abide by this duty can result in expensive legal claims, Continue Reading
Licensed real estate agents have a professional duty to disclose material facts about properties for sale. They must also represent their clients; either the buyers or sellers (sometimes both) to the best of their Continue Reading
When purchasing a home, buyers and real estate agents do not always think about the utility hookups – or lack thereof – included in the home purchase. Overlooking these critical yet hidden aspects of homeownership Continue Reading
As the U.S. economy continues its post-pandemic recovery, the real estate market has seen buyer and seller interest skyrocket. In a hot real estate market, nearly every home put up for sale receives multiple offers, Continue Reading
In legal claims against real estate agencies and their agents, plaintiffs often focus on issues with the selling of the home, such as failing to disclose damage to the property in question or misrepresenting Continue Reading
Real estate transactions rarely go exactly as planned. When the property in question has been owned and renovated by the real estate agent, and the buyer is a close friend, the transaction could be expected to Continue Reading
Real estate professionals are bound by a range of duties, including certain obligations when those professionals sell agent-owned property or serve as dual agents and sellers of a property. Failure to uphold Continue Reading
Advertising is a critical component of the real estate industry. Promoting a home sale through the use of professionally-shot images is a common practice; such images are often used in brochures, property listings, Continue Reading
Real estate agents face numerous challenges in their profession, and transactions rarely go as planned. When it comes to estate sales, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges faced by Continue Reading
The world’s information is at our fingertips, thanks to the Internet. On the web, it is possible to find literally millions of images, and sometimes these images are used to illustrate websites, business brochures, Continue Reading
When property is in your care, custody, and control, agents are duty-bound to maintain property premises in a safe and hazard-free manner. Failure to do so, such as in cases of neglect, deferred maintenance, or Continue Reading
In real estate transactions, both buyer and seller have a reasonable expectation of propriety. In other words, both parties expect that the transaction will be free of fraudulent practices. Unfortunately, this is Continue Reading
There are many cases of bodily injury or property damage occurring during property showings, but most people don’t consider the potential danger of pets during a showing. With over half of all American households Continue Reading
Potential renters and buyers are not always what they appear to be. Fair Housing Testers are individuals who pose as prospective clients in order to investigate potential discrimination in housing, particularly as Continue Reading
In the age of Airbnb and other home sharing services, it’s now easier (and more appealing) than ever for homeowners to rent out their property for an additional income. However, no homeowner should assume that they Continue Reading
Here is the link to the article from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with valuable information on how to protect your agency. Continue Reading
It’s not uncommon for the owner of a property to not be around when their home is shown to potential buyers. Under the supervision of a real estate agent (or several), potential buyers can look around the home and Continue Reading
While real estate agents have many responsibilities, there are some things that should not be addressed by agents during the buying and selling process, as they can lead to costly claims and lawsuits. Disclosures or Continue Reading
Purchasing homes for the purpose of increasing their value and reselling them at a profit, also referred to as wholesale, is a popular practice that can be beneficial for both the buyer and the real estate agent Continue Reading
What does a misrepresentation claim look like in the real world, and what kind of consequences does it have for an agent? Let’s take a look at one of our recent claims. The buyer, represented by a real estate agent, Continue Reading
There is a little-known gap that exists between E&O policies and Cyber liability policies, which in our opinion is a worthwhile talking about. E&O Insurance policies trigger coverage for various situations Continue Reading
Sexual misconduct by a company executive or employee can result in a wide variety of legal claims against the company itself. If the victim is an employee, a supervisor’s unwanted sexual advances or other conduct of Continue Reading
Whether you explicitly perform Property Management services, or you provide property management services as part of a transaction, there are significant exposures to E&O claims resulting from bodily injury or Continue Reading
Digital Property Replacement is a subset of the Breach Rectification coverage of the cyber liability policy that PBI Group recommends. This section covers the replacement of software, data and hardware which has Continue Reading
Real Estate broker-owners/management….a friendly reminder that this NAR data security and privacy document is a great summertime read. Hopefully, you can find the time during your slower season(s) to Continue Reading
We have been asked over the years if events such as ice cream socials, holiday toy drives, garage sales, etc, conducted by real estate agents within their communities to market their personal/team brand are covered Continue Reading
If you missed or would like to watch/listen again here is the webinar recording with the presentation slides. Link to Presentation * Every coverage situation is different, and the final outcome depends on the unique Continue Reading
At PBI Group we have seen this trend continue over the past 3-years and apparently, it has reached new heights. The average claim of lost client funds is $352,000 according to this recent report. This is why we Continue Reading
BI/PD stands for Bodily Injury and Property Damage. Most Real Estate E&O policies include some measure of BI/PD coverage, such as limited lockbox coverage or open house coverage, but the broadest E&O Continue Reading
A Hazleton, Pennsylvania realtor could serve up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The realtor was arrested in Florida after fleeing there to avoid prosecution. The Continue Reading
A study shows that Los Angeles area homebuyers are losing five million dollars a month to cybercriminals. In a scheme that started in 2013, and which shows no signs of slowing down, buyers are tricked into sending Continue Reading
A spotlight on a claim against a real estate agent who acted as a dual agent for both the seller and the buyer of 1000 acres of agricultural land for $10 million dollars ($10,000 per acre). Fact Scenario: Prior to Continue Reading
Construction/Development coverage extends the E&O policy to provide coverage for the sale of residential property that has been built or developed by an insured agent or broker. The practice of building spec Continue Reading
Life as a real estate agent is busy, always on the go and juggling multiple clients. You are often being pulled in multiple directions while staying focused on helping your clients get through what is regularly a Continue Reading
Here is a helpful guide to understanding some of the things to look for when attempting to figure out if an email is real or fake. Click here to view a full-size PDF of the above image. Viewing this infographic Continue Reading
Lots of discussion since the Equifax breach about freezing or monitoring your credit report. Let’s just discuss the basics briefly. #1 View your credit report from all 3 agencies. There is a free, authorized by Continue Reading
There really is no such thing as a “Hammer Clause”, but that is the common term for the Consent to Settle Clause in your E&O policy. The Consent to Settle clause dictates what the insurance company will do when Continue Reading
One of the options you have when buying E&O insurance is Defense Outside the Limit (DOL) or Defense Within the Limit (DWL). It is important to understand this option clearly because this will impact coverage Continue Reading
The bad guys are working hard, 100 attempts per month in Nevada! Our cyber liability policy cover for this type of claim. Get a quote today.Continue Reading
It is hard to believe that a small insurance brokerage company like PBI Group could become a target of a (somewhat) sophisticated social engineer scam commonly referred to as a CEO Fraud but we did. Here is the Continue Reading
Financial Fraud Kill Chain (FFKC) is FBI program designed to recover funds for customers who have been victimized by fraudulent international wire schemes. The FFKC is a cooperative program to attempt to Continue Reading
If so, you may be in a situation where your policy does not provide coverage due to an unsupported software application running on your computers. All software eventually reaches a point where it is no longer Continue Reading
You may have seen the news this weekend. Criminal hackers have released a powerful strain of ransomware that spreads itself automatically across all computers in a network, causing a global epidemic. If you are not Continue Reading
Passwords are a fact of life on the Internet today—we use them for everything from ordering flowers and online banking to logging into our favorite airline Web site to see how many miles we have accumulated. The Continue Reading
Does your E&O policy have a deductible waiver? It should if the following conditions are met: Seller disclosure form signed by Seller & acknowledged in writing by Buyer prior to closing(if required by your Continue Reading
It is very easy to get caught up in all these free/cheap cloud storage services which enable us access to anything we need, at our fingertips, in just a few clicks, while on our phone in line at Starbucks. The Continue Reading
Today another client called with a wire transfer fraud situation where their client wired approximately $300,000 for closing to a fraudulent bank account. Thankfully this real estate agency purchased cyber liability Continue Reading
Besides a comprehensive Cyber Liability insurance policy. Here are some things you can do to protect your agents. Continue Reading
A Data Breach Coach is a leader, often a person at a law firm, who is your main point of contact once a breach is suspected. He or she is available through a feature in your Cyber Liability policy via a 24-hour Continue Reading
It is time to officially stop using Yahoo email address and migrate to a new email provider. The news today of yet another breach that exposed 1 billion user accounts, is the largest such attack in the history of Continue Reading
First off, this stuff can be confusing and daunting… it is for everyone. Take 1 step at a time, together with your technical resource you will figure it out together. Remember you don’t have to be first when Continue Reading
Like a shield wall for an army, Security Awareness Training is a valuable tool to help reduce your cyber liability exposure by employing a formal process of educating agents regarding cybersecurity threats. The Continue Reading
Awareness is the first step! Increase your Cyber awareness. Always verify ANY changes in payment instructions. If it is the 1st time you are transferring money make sure you talk with the person receiving the funds. Continue Reading
Social engineering is the art of manipulating people so they give up valuable information. Criminals use this tactic as it is easier to exploit the natural inclination to trust than to breach system security. Continue Reading
