In this case study, the agent failed to make a timely deposit of the escrow funds. Despite having signed an acknowledgment of the Broker’s Policy and Procedure Manual, the agent still failed to input the contract and timely deposit the funds. Nevertheless, because of these policies and procedures, the Principal Broker was still able to discover the error and report the escrow violation to DPOR, ensuring that she properly supervised the agents in the firm.

In this case, an agent performs regulated activities outside of her brokerage firm. Real estate licensees must not perform regulated activities outside of their brokerage firm.

Business continuity planning creates systems and procedures for what happens when the unexpected happens—whether that’s weather, illness, or death. This type of planning is essential to agents, teams, brokers, and firms. The law in Virginia addresses what happens if the sole broker at a firm dies or becomes disabled.