During the recent state legislative session, a new law was passed which clarified a liability exemption for real estate brokerage under the Deceptive Trade and Practices Act (DTPA).
Specifically, the law clarifies a 16-year-old professional services exemption to the DTPA by expressly adding real estate brokerage to the list of professions not subject to liability under the act, as long as the agent or broker has not committed a misrepresentation of material facts, an unconscionable act or a failure to disclose.
As a result of the new law, the Legal Department at the Texas Association of REALTORS® (TAR) has drafted a model response letter Texas REALTORS® can use to answer a DTPA demand letter. The model response letter can be accessed on the association’s website. Simply log into your TAR account at www.texasrealtors.com, and copy the following link into your web browser’s address bar http://www.texasrealtors.com/mr/forms/DTPA/.
