The Department of Housing and Urban Development has recently issued a ruling that any charges in addition to a real estate agent’s commission are illegal if no extra services are provided. In recent years, some real estate agents and brokers have been adding extra fees to their commissions to generate more revenue. In most cases, no extra work or services were provided, and these fees were called a variety of names such as processing charges, convenience charges and others. The fees were charged to both sellers and buyers at closings. Fees charged by a brokerage firm in Alabama involving around 30,000 transactions led to the HUD ruling, but the agency and the National Association of Realtors warned real estate professionals across the country not to tack on extra fees for work not performed. Until this ruling, HUD did not provide any detailed guidelines about what charges are legal in the real estate industry. HUD general counsel Helen R. Kanovsky summed up the new ruling concisely. She said that federal law does not govern how much real estate brokers can charge their clients for their services, but it does govern how brokers and real estate agents disclose their compensation to their clients. Brokers’ and agents’ commissions may be expressed by “using a flat fee, a percentage of the sales price, or a combination” of the two. It is unfortunate that some real estate brokers have taken advantage of their clients and charged them for services that they did not deliver. However, if you’re looking for an honest flat-fee Louisville real estate broker who will be happy to explain services and the fees for them, call Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504. This Louisville discount brokerage has many years of experience helping clients and has earned a reputation for being honest and dependable. Resource Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/yourmoney/la-fi-harney21-2010mar21,0,2521592.story