As with any industry, a new year brings new laws. While new laws usually benefit a group of people, they can also bring additional expenses with them. A new law, set to take effect on July 1st, 2009, may require numerous real estate professionals to incur an additional expense; specifically in reguards to business cards.

SB 1461 is a new law passed by the California legislature,

“This new law requires a real estate licensee to disclose his or her DRE license number on all ’solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers’ and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions.”

  • “Solicitation materials,” include: business cards, stationary, advertising fliers, and other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer.
  • Excluded from the above are: an advertisement in print or electronic media, “for sale” signs, and specified classified rental advertisements.

Whether you have just a hundred business cards or a thousand, you have until the end of June to hand them out. At the beginning of July, your business cards, stationeries, etc., must have your DRE license number on them or penalties will apply. One alternative to throwing away your previous made business cards is to place a sticker with your DRE license number on them. Another way is to stamp the number on the cards.

To aid in the transition, the SAR Retail Center has a workstation inside the store where Members can create and order new business cards. Prices for business cards are dependent on the type of layout, coloring, and style, but we do our best to keep the prices down. In addition, SAR has a program inplace with Office Depot that offers REALTORS® special pricing-which means additional savings in your pocket. To obtain this REALTOR® benefit, stop by the SAR Retail Center for an Office Depot Store Purchasing Card. For further convienence, customers outside of the Sacramento Area can fill out this form and Office Depot will mail a card right to you. The great thing about the Store Purchasing Card is that REALTORS® can shop and save at any Office Depot

Store Purchasing Card

Store Purchasing Card

So make sure to stop by the SAR Retail Center or your local Office Depot with a store purchasing card if you need to order new business cards or just want to save a little extra on office supplies. A list of all new laws affecting California real estate can be found on the California Association of REALTORS® website: www.car.org.