FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The settlement of the nationwide seller class action antitrust lawsuits versus the real estate brokerage industry drove many of the 2025 changes to some of our most popular document packages. Different laws and regulations require different business models to address different issues. To help guide you about what you need to change, and what you do not need to change, below are answers to frequently asked questions.
General Questions (Not driven by Antitrust)
Q: If I am a one-person brokerage firm, or one independent broker operating without a brokerage firm, do I need an independent contractor agreement?
A: No, you do not have any independent contractors.
Q: Does the Colorado Division of Real Estate require all brokerage firms with employed agents to have an Independent Contractor Agreement?
A: No, however Independent Contractor Agreements are necessary to satisfy certain I.R.S. safe havens and help manage other significant risks faced by brokerage firms.
Q: Must all Colorado brokerages, even one person operations, have Data Protection Policies?
A: Yes.
Q: Did the law firm update its Data Protection Policy form for 2025?
A: No, because the “DPPs” that have come from the law firm’s original Data Protection Policy systems remain current. If you already have a DPP from our law firm, you do not need to update it.
Q: Must all Colorado brokerage firms, even one person operations, have a Brokerage Relationship Policy (also known as an “Agency” Policy)?
A: Yes, it is required by statute.
Q: Does your law firm’s general office policy cover the brokerage relationship issues?
A: The law firm’s general office policy manual does not address the brokerage relationship issues for the following reasons: (1) The obligation to have a general and massive office policy manual comes from a brokerage firm’s obligation to supervise employed agents (See CREC Rule 6.3.C.1.). One person brokerage operations do not have licensees to supervise. One person brokerage firms do not need to bear the expense of addressing all the issues mentioned in Colorado Real Estate Commission Position on Office Policy Manuals (CP-13). One person brokerage firms, however, must have a brokerage relationship policy and must have a data protection policy due to statutes that impose burdens on all brokerage operations. (2) Brokerage relationship issues are complex. The integration of brokerage relationship issues into the general Office Policy would make for a document that would exhaust the stamina of virtually all readers and (3) Separating brokerage relationship and data protection issues in our modular fashion from the massive general office policy allows us to more surgically and inexpensively address your needs, especially as the world and different laws evolve.
Q: If my brokerage firm does not have any policy documents, what documents does the Colorado Division of Real Estate require my brokerage firm to have in your forms system?
A: If you are a one person operation then you need (1) a Brokerage Relationship Policy ($350) [*] and (2) a Data Protection Policy ($200).
A: If you have agents who hang their licenses under you, then you need (1) a Brokerage Relationship Policy ($350), (2) a Data Protection Policy ($375) and (3) our general Office Policy Manual ($350). Not required, but regularly requested with these is the Independent Contractor Agreement ($550).
Q: In your law firm’s system, if my brokerage firm engages in property management of client’s properties, must I also have a separate office policy manual addressing property management issues?
A: Yes.
Q: Does your law firm have a set of additional provisions and addenda that brokers can use for common issues not addressed by the Division of Real Estate’s forms?
A: Yes. Go to the following link to learn about our residential contract addenda and clauses. https://frascona.com/products-books/
Q: Does the Division of Real Estate require us to use your addenda package?
A: No.
Q: May we continue to use the Pre-2025 version of the FJGG addenda package in 2025 and beyond?
A: No. The Division of Real Estate changed its forms system effective in August of 2024. Those changes, together with the antitrust settlement make prior versions of our addenda package obsolete. We will direct the vendors who digitally deliver our addenda package to deactivate the pre-2025 system as of March 31, 2025.
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[*] These costs, and all other costs quoted in this F.A.Q. are estimates that assume that your choices fit within our form generation system. If you need customization of your documents, then there may be additional expense.