Commercial Broker Quarterly: Summer 2003 - GWCAR, Greater Washington Commercial Association of REALTORS(R)

CBQ >> Summer 2003 Issue

Reciprocity Laws Opening Up Nationwide
New MD Law Effective October 1

In 2002, the National Association of REALTORS^® Commercial Alliance identified license reciprocity as a priority legislative issue for its commercial real estate members. An advisory board was created to support legislation or regulations that allow out-of-state licensees to work in cooperation with local brokers to perform commercial real estate transactions and receive payments, referral fees or commissions without having to obtain an additional license.

One of the states that was targeted to explore and move forward with this type of legislation was Maryland. During the 2003 legislative session the Maryland General Assembly passed a commercial license reciprocity bill (SB 221) that will be effective October 1. The legislation will provide improved reciprocity for commercial real estate practitioners.

Under the bill, an agent from another state involved in a commercial transaction may affiliate with a licensed Maryland broker on a per transaction basis, without meeting the education and testing requirements for licensing. The broker would be responsible for the agent's activity under the law. In return, Maryland licensees would have the ability to affiliate with licensed brokers in other states on the same basis as those states pass similar laws. This bill is part of a national effort to open up the practice of commercial real estate across state lines.

For more information on this issue, please visit NAR's commercial research Web page at http://www.realtor.org/commercial.