Commission Foreword
Welcome to the Georgia Real Estate InfoBase Project. The Georgia Real Estate Commission (“Commission”) has partnered with Georgia State University’s Department of Real Estate to bring you this web manual of real estate information. The project was funded by the Education, Research and Recovery Fund of the Commission to which each real estate licensee contributed when originally licensed.
The Georgia Real Estate License Law (the “Act”) helps protect the public against illegal or unethical practices of real estate licensees. The scope of the Act covers licensing, education and discipline. The Act empowers the Commission to enforce it. In order to effectuate the Act, the Commission promulgates rules and regulations and disseminates them to licensees and the public. It also promulgates material to help with its mission of educating licensees and the public of real estate law. Publication of this web-based manual is one such act. The Commission intends that real estate licensees and the public use this manual as a guide to legal and ethical real estate brokerage activity. The Commission does not intend, however, that licensees or members of the public use this manual as a substitute for competent legal advice for any specific legal question.
The Commission appreciates the efforts of Dr. Roy E. Black and Dr. Joseph Rabianski of Georgia State University in publishing a real estate manual years ago that became the foundation of this web project. We also thank Dr. James D. Vernor and Dr. Joseph Rabianski for leading the effort to update and supplement the original manual for the InfoBase Project. The Commission would like to thank former Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Ledford and former Real Estate Commission members Robert T. Love and George W. Holtzman as well as all current members for their work and support in initiating the project. It has been in production since 2009. We would like to especially thank the volunteer editors who contributed their time and expertise to the project.
The Georgia Real Estate Commission
Georgia State University Foreword
| Dear Real Estate Colleague,
Welcome to the Georgia Real Estate InfoBase Project, a living repository of essential real estate knowledge. The Department of Real Estate at Georgia State University is proud to partner with the Georgia Real Estate Commission to bring you this unique resource and hopes that you will find it an indispensable tool and will choose to participate in its growing importance and reach. At GSU, we are committed to creating and sharing knowledge and are celebrating well over fifty years of preparing the real estate leaders of tomorrow by meeting their educational needs today. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about us and our relevance to you. With a broad, flexible, and practical approach to learning and BBA, MBA, MSRE, and PhD degree options, we offer the richest real estate educational experience available. Please let us know how we can be helpful to you.
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History and Acknowledgements
In 1972 the General Assembly substantially recodified Georgia’s real estate license law. For the first time, the law mandated education requirements for licensees. The next year the Commission authorized publication of the first edition of the Georgia Real Estate Manual in an effort to provide approved schools with some basic education materials. John Correll, a Georgia broker and educator, wrote a section in that manual entitled “Real Estate Practice in Georgia.” In subsequent editions of the manual, other authors rewrote and expanded that section. Attorney Quinton S. King was the first to do so. Later attorneys Lois D. Shingler and Carol P. Bush also rewrote it.
In 1979 the General Assembly mandated postlicense education for salespersons and continuing education for licensees. Again, the Commission authorized the production of study guides to assist with that education. Joe Phillips wrote the first editions of those study guides. Later, he and Mr. Jack Wilson updated them. Subsequently, Tom Gillett made still further revisions to them.
When the Commission authorized Dr. Roy T. Black and Dr. Joseph Rabianski of Georgia State University to develop this new reference text, it charged them to cover the content areas in the Georgia Real Estate Manual and the study guides and to add substantial additional subject areas. Because this text is for reference rather than for teaching, Dr. Black and Dr. Rabianski have substantially rewritten and/or reformatted much of the material in those earlier texts. Some of the original work by the authors of the earlier texts survives unchanged in this text. Dr. Black and Dr. Rabianski requested that the Commission recognize their contributions on this authorship page.
In 2009, at the suggestion of it’s Education Advisory Committee, the Commission approached Julian Diaz, then-Chair of the Real Estate Department at Georgia State University, about a partnership to revise this book and convert it into an online Internet Resource for use by the general public and persons interested in the various fields of real estate. Contracts were executed and Jim Vernor, Chair Emeritus of the Department was enlisted to lead the effort. Campus Labs Inc. was hired to provide computer support to the effort. Members of the Education Advisory Committee and other subject matter experts were recruited to edit chapters in their area(s) of interest. As with earlier editions, financing came from the Commission’s Recovery Fund.
Development and Use
This site grew out of a reference book first written in the mid-1990s aiming to make general real estate information available to general readers in the State of Georgia. It will also provide a wealth of information for people considering entering the field of real estate as brokers, appraisers, property managers, community association managers, and lenders. This information should also prove useful to customers wishing to understand how to relate to these professionals. It was not designed for use by professionals to do legal bibliographical searches, and is not a substitute for the services of professional counsel.
You may use this resource in various ways. Like the original book, the content is organized into distinct chapters for reading in succession, and you will find a link to the table of contents nearby. The topics do not have to be read in succession though and the reader may use the search function to go directly to a topic of interest. A link to several industry glossaries allows comparing the meaning and use of terms from various perspectives but we make no warranty or representation of their accuracy or currentness. Be sure to consult your real estate professional to complete your knowledge on any topic.
Readers needing more information can link through the hyperlinks throughout the work to access the most current laws, policy or general information from other sites. These hyperlinks have been provided instead of footnotes, endnotes or topical bibliographies in order to make use of the latest technology and sources. As this isn’t a professional resource for attorneys we haven’t tried to provide complete bibliographical or case references on relevant topics.
Please refer to the Disclaimers and Terms of Use to know what your rights are to use and share this information.
Disclaimer
General Disclaimer
The purpose of this InfoBase is to acquaint real estate practitioners and the public with some of the laws and regulations concerning real property in Georgia. It is by no means a comprehensive treatise on real estate law, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal advice. The information provided by this InfoBase does not necessarily reflect the views of Georgia State University or the Georgia Real Estate Commission. Real estate practitioners and their clients should always seek professional advice if they have questions about how their plans and decisions are affected by applicable law.
No contract; limited license
The information provided here is being provided freely, and no kind of agreement or contract is created between you and the owners or users of this site, the owners of the servers upon which it is housed, the individual contributors, any project administrators, sysops or anyone else who is in any way connected with this project. You are granted a limited license to copy anything from this site; it does not create or imply any contractual or extra contractual liability on the part of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, Georgia State University, the Georgia Real Estate Commission or any of their employees, agents, members, organizers or others.
There is no agreement or understanding between you and Georgia State University or the Georgia Real Estate Commission regarding your use or modification of this information beyond the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).
Trademarks
Any of the trademarks, service marks, collective marks, design rights or similar rights that are mentioned, used or cited in the Georgia Real Estate InfoBase are the property of their respective owners. Their use here does not imply that you may use them for any purpose other than for the same or a similar informational use as contemplated by the original authors of the InfoBase content under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licensing schemes. Unless otherwise stated this InfoBase is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such the Georgia Real Estate InfoBase Project cannot grant any rights to use any otherwise protected materials. Your use of any such or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk.
Terms of Use
The use of the material provided on this website is subject to these terms of use and the license provided at Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA).