John A. Kauerauf and Betsy Urbance get ready for an IAR Legal Webinar on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 for realtors in Illinois facing new concealed carry hurdles. (Photo credit: IAR)
Now that the Land of Lincoln has a ‘shall-issue’ concealed carry law on the books and the first 5,000 CCW permits have been sent out in the mail, real estate agents and brokers in the state have a bunch of questions to consider about they ways in which they conduct business.
To put it candidly, they must decide whether they will make their offices and properties for sale gun-free or gun-friendly.
In an effort to help realtors and brokers answer that essential question, as well as many others, the Illinois Association of Realtors put together a packet that includes policy and contract samples for real estate offices, sponsoring broker/licensee agreements and residential property owners.
Along with the sample policies and contracts, the IAR released a video intro for a new presentation that asks:
-Have you thought about how your company will react to the Illinois concealed carry law?
-Will you allow your employees to come to the workplace carrying concealed weapons?
-What about when they are driving clients around?
-Will you allow them to drive clients around carrying concealed weapons?
-What about the customer that has strong feelings about this one way or the other?”
Additionally, the IAR has posted on their website a primer of sorts for realtors that includes such advice as “If a licensee does concealed carry, simply asking the client prior to coming onto the client’s property for the first time seems to be a logical way to eliminate the issue before it becomes an issue.”
Moreover, “If the client has a concern about those carrying concealed firearms viewing the property at an open house or other private showing, perhaps posting the concealed carry prohibition signage upon the property will satisfy the client’s concerns.”
These developments come as realtors nationwide step up initiatives to increase safety, particular at open houses.
Overall, national realty groups do not advocate relators to carry concealed firearms, however some blogs in the industry do follow the subject and seek to educate real estate agents as to their options.
As those with experience in the industry are well aware, the job of a realtor revolves around meeting strangers in empty houses, which often makes agents a target. The real estate, rental and leasing industry averaged 77 work-related deaths per year from 2008 to 2011 according to Veterans United, a real estate blog for those in the VA mortgage world.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, the question of how to deal with gun owners who carry in public remains open for debate.
“We’ll put up signage, but we’re not going to put the brokers in the position of frisking down people as they walk through an open house,” said John Kauerauf, an attorney for IAR told the Chicago Tribune.
According to its website, the IAR was founded in 1916 and “has grown to become one of the largest trade associations in the state of Illinois, representing 41,000 Realtors statewide who are involved in virtually all aspects related to the sale, purchase, exchange or lease of real property in Illinois.”
Guns.com reached out to the IAR for comment on this story but have yet to receive a reply.
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