If you were thinking there’s nothing new to say about COVID-19 after 16 months, you’d be thinking wrong.

On Thursday, May 13, the Centers for Disease Control issued new public health guidance for fully vaccinated people. The key takeaway is that “fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” But before you get too excited, let’s break that down and see how it might apply to real estate practice in Pennsylvania.

The PAR Legal Hotline is seeing terminations and deposit disputes shoot up, as well as a spike in seller disclosure problems and about a 40% increase in buyer-seller mediation request.

The key to understanding dual or variable rate commission is that it applies when the fee paid by a seller to a listing broker will vary based on whether or not an agent with the listing broker procures the buyer.

Our recommendation – consistent with the CDC guidance and amended Pennsylvania order – is that real estate licensees should continue to wear masks when interacting with clients regardless of the setting.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed a fourth renewal of the COVID-19 emergency declaration, while President Joe Biden announced a 14-day window (Feb. 24-March 10) in which the Paycheck Protection Program will only be available to businesses of 20 employees or fewer.