SB 457

Under current law, the Real Estate Examining Board (board) licenses real

estate brokers in Wisconsin. Generally, no person may engage in real estate practice

in the state without a broker's license issued by the board. The board also licenses

real estate salespersons and registers time-share salespersons. A real estate

salesperson is any person, other than a broker or a time-share salesperson, who is

employed by a broker. A time-share salesperson is a person employed by a broker

exclusively to sell time shares.

This bill authorizes limited real estate practice in Wisconsin by an out-of-state

broker who is not licensed by the board, and for the broker's out-of-state salesperson

or time-share salesperson, if the out-of-state broker enters into a cooperative

agreement with a broker licensed by the board. Under the bill, the board is required

to develop, by rule, the form and content of the cooperative agreement. The

cooperative agreement must establish the terms of cooperation between an

out-of-state broker and a licensed broker, establish the terms of the out-of-state

broker's compensation, and provide that all client funds received in connection with

a real estate transaction subject to the cooperative agreement be deposited in a trust

account maintained by the licensed broker.

Under the bill, an out-of-state broker may not do any of the following,

including as a party to a cooperative agreement:

1. Enter into a listing agreement concerning real estate located in Wisconsin.

2. For commission, money, or other thing of value, promote in Wisconsin the

sale, exchange, purchase, option, rental, or leasing of real estate located in

Wisconsin, including by posting signs.

Under the bill, a broker licensed by the board who is a party to a cooperative

agreement with an out-of-state broker, and any licensed salesperson or time-share

salesperson of the licensed broker, may not act under the cooperative agreement on

behalf of a broker who is not a party to the cooperative agreement. Additionally,

unless the parties agree otherwise, the out-of-state broker must submit all

documents it receives, maintains, or generates in connection with a real estate

transaction subject to the cooperative agreement to the licensed broker. The

out-of-state broker must keep all such documents for at least three years after the

date of closing or completion on a transaction, or, if the transaction does not close or

is not completed, three years after the date on which the parties executed the

cooperative agreement.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to

result if the bill is enacted.