Individuals who are not licensed real estate agents will be required to notify homeowners of that fact before soliciting for a sale thanks to legislation sponsored by Senator Michael Testa and approved today by the Senate Commerce Committee.
“Many homeowners in my district have received unwanted text messages from alleged real estate agents about selling their homes. Upon further investigation, it turns out that these texts are coming not from licensed real estate agents at all, but rather from unlicensed bad actors,” said Testa (R-1). “This legislation will require solicitors to tell homeowners who they work for and if they are, in fact, a licensed real estate agent. This will help increase transparency for homeowners throughout New Jersey and crack down on shady individuals and their dishonest activities.”
Testa’s measure, S-3578, would require that if someone who is not a licensed real estate agent solicits a homeowner regarding the sale of a home, they must first send a separate text specifying that they are not a licensed real estate agent.
The separate text message to the homeowner must state: that the individual is not a licensee of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission; the name of the employer with whom the individual is employed; and that the text is a solicitation.