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In our recent newsletter, the Utah Division of Real Estate stated licensees should submit, among other documents, “[a]ll communications with relevant parties, including email and text messages” to brokers for record-keeping. 

We’d like to address any misunderstandings that may have arisen with the publication of this article and subsequent commentary by industry participants on social media. 

Utah Code § 61-2f-401(9) indicates:

“The following acts are unlawful and grounds for disciplinary action for a person licensed or required to be licensed under this chapter:

(9) failing to keep and make available for inspection by the division a record of each transaction, including:

(a) the names of buyers and sellers or lessees and lessors;

(b) the identification of real estate;

(c) the sale or rental price;

(d) money received in trust;

(e) agreements or instructions from buyers and sellers or lessees and lessors; and

(f) any other information required by rule;”

This statutory provision makes clear that “a record of each transaction” is what must be kept and made available for the division’s inspection by licensees or persons who should be licensed. Please note that this requirement applies to all licensees and not only brokers. Subsection 401(9) provides examples of what is included in this “record,” none of which reference format. For instance, items that are material to the transaction, in other words, that have importance, relevance, or consequence to a person making a decision regarding the purchase, sale, or lease of real estate, may come in the form of an email, text message, or other form of electronic communication. If any of these items are material and in the form of email, text message, or any other form of electronic communications, licensees should consider those communications parts of this “record.”

Subsection 401(9)(f) includes “any other information required by rule” in its list of examples of what is included in a “record of each transaction.” Utah Administrative Code R162-2f-401k speaks to recordkeeping requirements of principal brokers:

“A principal broker shall:

(1)  maintain and safeguard the following records to the extent they relate to the business of a principal broker:

(a)  trust account records, including the monthly reconciliation of the trust account;

(b)  any document submitted by a licensee affiliated with the principal broker to a lender or underwriter as part of a real estate transaction;

(c)  any document signed by a seller or buyer with whom the principal broker or an affiliated licensee is required to have an agency agreement; and

(d)  any document created or executed by a licensee over whom the principal broker has supervisory responsibility pursuant to Subsection R162-2f-401c(1)(c);

(2)  maintain the records identified in Subsection R162-2f-401k(1):

(a)(i)  physically:

(A)  at the principal business location designated by the principal broker on division records; or

(B)  where applicable, at a branch office as designated by the principal broker on division records; or

(ii)  electronically, in a storage system that complies with Title 46 Chapter 04, Utah Uniform Electronic Transactions Act; and

(b)  for at least three calendar years following the year in which:

(i)  an offer is rejected;

(ii)  the transaction either closes or fails; or

(iii)  in a lease transaction, the termination of the lease agreement;

(3)  upon request of the division, make any record identified in Subsection (1) available for inspection and copying by the division;

(4)  notify the division in writing within ten business days after terminating business operations as to where business records will be maintained; and

(5)  upon filing for brokerage bankruptcy, notify the division in writing of:(a)  the filing; and(b)  the current location of brokerage records.”

Please understand that the division may request, among other things, documents beyond your transaction file in an investigation. This is entirely lawful and appropriate, and any suggestion to the contrary is false. Please see Utah Code § 61-2f-402 for further information about investigations conducted by the division and our authority to request information during an investigation. 

Our intention in the newsletter was to encourage licensees to protect themselves by mindfully retaining documents that could show that a licensee's action was authorized, in addition to any documents required by law to be retained. We appreciate your concerns and encourage you to reach out if you have questions moving forward.

Commission and Board Meetings

Commission and Board Meetings can now be attended in person or virtually. To join our virtual Commission and Board meetings, please email Maelynn Valentine at mvalentine@utah.gov for the meeting information. To attend in person, most meetings are held in Room 250 in the Heber M. Wells Building, 160 East 300 South in Salt Lake City.

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