The holiday season is always a great time to be in touch and reconnect with clients past and present.  While communicating with Wendy Roloff of our Champions Office, I noted her very festive and well thought out email signature, so I asked her permission to share it.  The email signature below not only conveys the warmth of the season, but it also provides just what TREC wants to see all-year-round when communicating with clients:

First, above the actual email signature is a link to the TREC form Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) in a statement suggested by TAR in a recent Texas REALTOR® magazine article and email post.  It clearly tells the reader what they will get when they click on the link.

(Also attached for clarification are TAR Legal FAQs (TAR Legal FAQs on IABS link to Email and TAR Legal FAQs on IABS) and the front page of two issues of the TREC Advisor newsletter that specifically instructs how the IABS should be delivered.)
TREC Advisor – IABS and Emails
TREC Advisor – IABS and Leases

 One must remember that TREC does not want the IABS link within the email signature and although it is an excellent idea to include it ABOVE the email signature as shown below, the agent is to explain and point out that the IABS is attached when it is part of the first phase of a business relationship and when acknowledgement is being requested in writing.  (See the attached articles for further details.)

Second, see the great disclosure statement above the email signature line:  My statements in this email do not create a binding agreement for my clients.  

Due to the Texas law, Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA), statements made by an agent in an email could be construed by a client’s attorney to be binding upon the other party.  Therefore, a statement like the one below included above the email signature can be good protection.  Other statements could include:

“My typed name in this email is not my electronic signature nor the electronic signature of my clients.” Or,  “I do not have the authority to bind my clients to a contract.”

(Both of these statements were taken from the TREC Legal CE course and are not being presented as company policy, only as a suggestion and as a reminder to be cautious when putting negotiations in an email or text.)

Always include your office address and telephone contact information in your email signature.  How else will your client know where and how to reach you.  Be a professional in all ways including providing complete contact information

If these three elements are included “in” and “above” your email signature, your risk level is likely to be greatly diminished.  And, you can wish your clients a Happy Holiday and best wishes all year long!

 (This email signature is being presented as an example with the permission of its author.)

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dianne McCoy, Realtor^®
ABR, ABRM, CLHMS, CNE, CRB, CRP, CRS, GRI, MCNE, SRES, SRS
Director of Education and Compliance
dianne.mccoy@garygreene.com