BRATTLEBORO — In his letter, Mark Tully writes: “Vermont is being flooded by COVID-19 hot-spotters looking to buy property. [...] Now, sociopath real estate agents in Brattleboro are trying to bring them into people's homes.”
What is particularly odd is that Tully's most bitter complaint is that Vermont's rules include the following:
“Special note about showing occupied homes: Realtors and landlords may not require occupants of a home or apartment to allow potential buyers or renters into their homes during this extraordinary time.”
I am still trying to figure out what Tully's problem is with a requirement that protects tenants.
The rules for out-of-staters looking for property require that they come from counties with under 400 active cases per million. Contrary to what Tully wrote, “hot-spotters” are barred.
During a recent Southern Vermont Board of Realtors Zoom meeting, a participant gave an example of buyers who were on their way to Vermont when the status of their county changed from non-quarantined to quarantined. Halfway into their journey, they had to turn around and head home.
The Vermont Association of Realtors (VAR) has repeatedly sent memos updating us on the current guidelines. These include not just a link to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) website, but also a direct advisory that we must respect a tenant's right to refuse to allow anyone into their home.
There are strict requirements for showing property to out-of-staters, including keeping records that include a questionnaire attesting to specific facts relevant to their compliance.
VAR as well as the managing brokers of local firms have made it clear that “a wink and a nod” will be punished as an ethical violation. Individual real estate agents have refused to show homes to out-of-staters who tried to fake compliance. Any agent violating these rules can lose their license.
Check the ACCD website to stay current. On that site is enforcement information, which invites members of the public to file a complaint for violations.