Did you know that as of January 1, 2024, the WRA’s PDF Forms Library is free for all WRA members? That means you have access to PDF versions of not only all the WB forms but all the WRA forms too. Many of you might use zipForm or another electronic platform for accessing and completing your transaction documents, and you can continue to use those services. The WRA PDF Forms Library is just another way for WRA members to access forms. One nice feature of the WRA PDF Forms Library is the ability to download the entire library as a compressed zip file so you can have access to the forms regardless of your internet connection. That can be useful if you want to go through a form with a customer or client and send it later for a signature when you are back online. Additionally, by having PDFs of all the forms, you can take snapshots of them for use in your training events or materials. 

WRA forms

Most agents will be familiar with the WB forms: agency agreements, offers, amendments and notices, for example. If you have not looked through the available WRA forms in a while, take a minute and review the list. We create and add new forms to the library as needed based on the market and what we are hearing about in your transactions. For example, when an inspection contingency was considered a deal breaker in an offer, we created the WRA-BAR Buyer Acknowledgement of Risk When Not Having a Home Inspection. That may be a lengthy title for a form, but it gets to the point quickly for a buyer who was considering making an offer without building in an opportunity to have a home inspection. Further, the form put the buyer on notice that they were making an affirmative choice not to have an inspection even after their agent had recommended it. Not only that, but the form includes a hold harmless provision and a place for the buyer to sign so that if the buyer proceeded without the inspection and things did not go well later, the buyer could not come back later and blame the agent for lack of due diligence.

Recently, the WRA added the WRA-ZRD Use of Property/Zoning Regulations Disclaimer to the forms library. This form too is to protect agents in transactions. It specifically instructs the buyer that zoning or other regulations can change in the future, which could impact a property’s use. Though the form is broader than just addressing the rental use of property, changing rental regulations were the inspiration, specifically when it comes to short-term rentals. For example, you may have a buyer who found the perfect condominium in Door County that they want to use for vacations, but they also want to rent it out when they are not there. The buyer buys and spends a wonderful summer visiting Door County and renting the condominium when they are not there. In the fall, the condominium association voted to prohibit rentals and only allow owner occupancy, forcing the buyer to be stuck with a condominium they cannot use in the way they had hoped. If the agent gave the buyer the WRA-ZRD Use of Property/Zoning Regulations Disclaimer, the buyer would have known that rules can change in the future and what is possible now is not forever. Is this form required? No. Is it a good idea? Yes. If you are working with a buyer who is talking about short-term rentals, future builds, changing a property’s use or something along those lines, grab this form, go over it with the buyer and have them sign. Now the buyer is educated that the future can bring changes and for good measure, there is also a hold harmless provision in this form too so the Door County condominium buyer cannot come back and blame their agent for the condominium association’s decision to prohibit rentals.

Not only are there forms for use with buyers and sellers, but there are also forms for use within your office such as the WRA-ICA Independent Contractor Agreement, WRA-LPA Licensed Personal Assistant Agreement and the WRA-UPA Unlicensed Personal Assistant Agreement. Forms for working with firms? You are covered there too with the WRA-CA Compensation Agreement and the WRA-RA Referral Agreement. Not to mention all the landlord/tenant forms for all of you who are also landlords or property managers. 

Access your WRA PDF Forms Library at www.wra.org/forms. 

Line by Line forms training

Do you know what else is a free member benefit to help you out with all those forms? The Line by Line forms training, which, as the name implies, goes through the WB forms line by line to explain what all the provisions mean. Has it been a while since you used the WB-24 Option to Purchase? No problem — there is a Line by Line training video for that. There are no tests and no quizzes — just pure education about the forms. Line by Line training is available for all the WB forms. You may be asking, “Well what if I have a question about a WRA form? Are there Line by Line trainings for those?” There are not, but the WRA Legal Hotline attorneys are experts — and sometimes authors! — of those WRA forms and can get you the answer you need for any question about a WRA form.

Access your WRA Line by Line forms training at www.wra.org/linebyline. Submit your WRA Legal Hotline question at www.wra.org/legalhotline.

Now that you have access to all the forms and all the forms training for free, hopefully all your forms needs are covered — but if not, let me know and I will pass your suggestion on to the WRA Real Estate Forms Committee.