February 2006 Issue
Page 3

THE ELKHART COUNTY BOARD OF REALTORS® IS MOVING TO STATE FORMS JULY 1, 2006.

History
Since the advent of shared services, Elkhart County and South Bend/Mishawaka have shared the task of developing and using the same Board forms. This has made it much easier for members to do business in both counties and given both Boards the opportunity to work together for the common good. However, ECBOR has also developed relationships with other contiguous area MLS's in the last 18 months and found those areas use State forms.

Therefore, because the state offers a number of real estate forms, both residential and commercial, for members to use, ECBOR formed a task force to analyze the pros and cons of moving to State forms vs. continuing to maintain local forms. The task force quickly figured out that offering local forms raised our risk level, opened us up to potential financial loss, and took hours and hours of volunteer time. The pros to continuing the local forms were mainly ease of use for members who were used to the local forms. However, in the end the task force felt it was a redundant service that carried too much liability and came to the Board of Directors with a motion. The motion was passed by both MLS & ECBOR to support the 2006 changes to local forms but to move to State forms by July 1, 2006 but to encourage members to begin using state forms as soon as possible. The extended time frame took into consideration that ECBOR would need to give South Bend enough notice of the decision so they could make the necessary adjustments to the current process. It also gave ECBOR time to set up training for members to learn the State forms.

What is happening between January 1, 2006 and July 1, 2006?
During this time members will be encouraged to learn both State forms and ZipForm. The Board will continue to carry local forms until inventory is depleted or in the case of Listing Contracts, Purchase Agreements, Seller Disclosures and Counter Offers carry these forms until July 1, 2006. At which time, the Board will revert to selling hard copy of these state forms. The rest of the State forms inventory can be accessed through ZipForm.

The Board will offer training on the 2006 changes to local forms to the Participants at their January 19th meeting. In addition, the 2006 changes to the local forms will be included with the forms at the time of purchase.

In addition, Jodi Tuttle, IAR Legal Counsel will offer training to members on the State Purchase Agreement and Listing Contract. The dates for this training have been selected but the location is not yet been confirmed. Our hope is to use the new Board's office but it is still too soon to verify if that will be an option. The dates for the training are as follows:

• Friday, April 21, 2006 - 2 classes will be offered. The first class will begin at 8:30 AM and end at 10:15 AM. The second class will begin at 10:30 AM and end at 12:15 PM.
• The second day of training will be Wednesday, May 10, 2006. The first class will begin at 8:30 AM and end at 10:15 AM. The second class will begin at 10:30 AM and end at 12:15 PM.

Classes are available to all members and office staff, however, seating will be limited and reservations are required and will be taken on a first call basis. The Board office will begin taking reservations on March 1, 2006. These classes will not teach members how to use ZipForm.

What can members do now?
Members can learn how to use ZipForm by going to www.indianarealtors.com and click ZipForm. If you are a first time user of the IAR site you will have to register with your NRDS number and then you will need to register for access to ZipForm. They offer an on-line version and desktop download as well as a help section on how to access ZipForm. The Board would like to schedule ZipForm training classes as soon as the conference room at the new office is set-up.

Members are encouraged to be proactive. The Board office will continue to carry hard copy of the local Purchase Agreement, Listing Contract, Seller Disclosure and Counter-Offer until July 1, 2006. Then the Board will change to hard copy of the State PA, LC, SD and CO forms. All other local forms currently available at ECBOR will not be reordered after inventory is depleted. Offices can call Carol to find out what forms are still available. If you have any questions, please call Julie at the Board office.

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