Using a NC Real Estate Commission Audit Checklist

Real estate audits are an inevitable part of doing business, whether you run a small one-person office or operate as part of a larger brokerage firm. Being prepared for such audits is vitally important.

Commission staff provide educational programs on various aspects of real estate brokerage licensing and trust accounts of brokerage firms. Presentations can be scheduled upon request.

1. Review your financials :

Real estate audits are performed to verify compliance with local, state and national real estate regulations. Auditors check your financials as well as transactions, documents and records. To be prepared for an unexpected or scheduled audit is to have robust transaction management practices in place that help prevent compliance breaches while keeping records organized.

The Commission has prepared one-page Trust Account Tutorials to teach brokers how to maintain trust account records that comply with Real Estate Commission rules and can be found online, or downloaded for future reference. These resources can be seen instantly or saved for later.

The Commission's staff are pleased to offer informative programs on real estate brokerage to professional organizations, broker associations and other groups. Please reach out for more information from them directly. However, due to licensing laws regulating them elsewhere (attorneys, home inspectors appraisers or mortgage companies), legal advice or answers on matters regarding them cannot be given by us; any inquiries in regard to them should be directed toward those respective licensing bodies instead.

2. Review your contracts : 

At a real estate audit, state auditors seek evidence that you and your brokerage are operating within the law. That means ensuring all transactions are recorded properly and your policies and procedures remain up-to-date - one good way of accomplishing this goal would be through the use of a transaction management system.

These systems can help ensure that your contracts meet all the legal requirements, automatically recording all pertinent information and providing a log of who reviewed each document. They'll even alert you to any compliance issues that might have surfaced!

The Commission does not provide legal advice or settle disputes between consumers and real estate brokers, attorneys, home inspectors, appraisers, banks or mortgage companies or any other service providers. Consumers who wish to inquire further or have concerns should do so directly with these professionals.

3. Review your records :

The NC real estate commission audit checklist covers everything from your brokerage's compliance policies and transaction records, as well as any that don't conform with regulations. An auditor will examine these files closely in order to make sure that if any don't meet them you could face fines or other penalties; so it's vital that all business practices and procedures remain up to date; using paperless transaction management systems makes accessing key documents much simpler for auditors.

Real estate brokers must abide by state laws, the License Law and Commission rules, as well as professional licensing bodies such as Appraisal Board or Home Inspector Licensure Board rules or mortgage companies. Real estate brokers cannot give legal advice or assist consumers in settling disputes between attorneys or service providers such as mortgage brokers or home inspectors - consumers with questions should directly reach out to these professionals directly; additionally the Commission offers informational programs about topics of special interest to real estate practitioners and audiences alike.

4. Schedule an appointment :

Inspection results will be released during an audit, with those performing it disclosing their findings. If any violations are discovered, your brokerage could face punishment or even lose its license; to avoid these penalties and stay compliant at all times with regulations is key - brokers should use best practices such as using a real estate broker audit checklist for this purpose and ensure all their records are organized and ready for an inspection.

Real estate firms frequently face audits from external auditors. On occasion, however, real estate brokers may find themselves randomly selected for an unexpected audit and must be ready to quickly assemble transaction files when an auditor arrives at their door. To help with this task, designated brokers should create office policies which ensure documents are submitted by deadline and strive to have their transaction folders organized prior to closing; using document management systems makes this easier still.