Fined by Real Estate Commission

[Chris Gabriel]

A couple of months ago, I moved from Nevada to California. Today I received a notice of violation from the Nevada Real Estate Commission and a fine of $500. Seeing as how I withdrew from the Nevada Commission in September, do I have to pay this? What would they be able to do if I didn't?

Any help is much appreciated.

[Bill Gulley]

Originally posted by Kyle J.:

Originally posted by Bill Gulley:

Were you under their jursidiction at the time of the violation? If yes, pay the fine.

If you got a traffic ticket from a traffic camera and violated traffic laws last month, but stopped driving yesterday and turned in your license, would you still need to pay the fine?

What can they do? Failure to comply is a violation of state law, they can issue a warrant for your arrest, some officer in your state can pick you up, put you on a bus with others wanted, send you back and put you in jail....that's what they can do!

I'd ask for a hearing and defend myself with the copy of the notice, if I couldn't do that, I'd write a check.

Is failure to disclose an interest in the property an actual law in Nevada? Or is it just a rule that Realtors are required to adhere to according to their RE license and/or the RE Commission? I'm asking because I'm not a Realtor or familiar with all of their rules.

If it is just a rule for Realtors (which is what I suspect), then the most they could do is probably something along the lines of permanently suspend your license in Nevada. But you may not care about that if you're not planning on moving back and practicing real estate.

However, there is no way they could get a warrant issued for you or have you arrested if it's not an actual law. It'd be a civil matter for which there could be no criminal penalty.

Just because someone can fine you, doesn't make it against the law to do something that earns you a fine. My HOA can fine me, but they can't have a warrant issued or have me thrown in jail no matter what I do. Their remedies are limited to civil-type sanctions.

Ultimately, my suggestion would be to just call and ask them what they would, or normally, do if someone doesn't pay a fine. They'll probably tell you, and then you can judge for yourself whether you want to pay it or not.

The Board of Realtors is the club, the private entity Realtors can belong to tohave access to the MLS, they must join to use the title Realtor, not all agents or brokers are Realtors, there is no requirement to join and many in commercial are not Realtors. They have a fine system that may be imposed on members with no real teeth.

The Real Estate Commission is a sub-agency usually of the Department or Finance or Commerce ormay be an agency itself. It has legal authority, you can think of them as min-state HUD. Any violation of regulations set by these agencies is a matter of law. You have the right to appeal or take the issue to court. If you pass the time limitation legally afforded to appeal or taking the issue to court, the fine stands as assessed. If you fail to pay the fine, that becomes another violation, failure to pay and when brought to the attention of a judge he can order you to appear and do so with a warrant. When you finally get before that judge and he thinks your non payment was simply contempt for the order, he may arrange a new residency for you for a few days or maight be up to a year, depends, and you'll likely still have to pay the fine.

The department of finance/commerce or any regulatory agency of any state may or may not have powers of arrest, but they can seek compliance through law enforcement agencies who do have powersof arrest. HUD for example has federal agents who have powers of arrest.

I just suggest you either defend yourself if you are in the clear and if not, pay the fine and be done with it. You don't want to get really sideways with any state agency.