2009-10 CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE RULES

CINCINNATI AREA BOARD OF REALTORS®

(Approved December 2008)

ARTICLE 1 - PURPOSE

Purpose of the Circle of Excellence is to recognize outstanding residential sales performance of Realtor® members in good standing with the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®.  Realtor® members are eligible for either the Circle of Excellence or Commercial Top Producers Club but not both (there are different qualification criteria for each).

ARTICLE 2 - RECOGNITION PERIOD

The recognition period shall be October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010.

ARTICLE 3 - PRESENTATION OF AWARDS

Those qualifying for the Circle of Excellence each year will be recognized and presented an award at the Board's Annual Awards function following the recognition period. Recognition of recipients will be by the company with which the recipient was affiliated at the close of the recognition period.

ARTICLE 4 - ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Section 1:  QUALIFICATION

**1.1  Real estate sales and leases shall be considered eligible for the Circle of Excellence. The words “sales” and “leases” are hereafter used interchangeably. In order to qualify, at least 80% of an applicant’s award-submitted commission volume must be from residential-generated transactions and at least 80% of the submitted transactions (property) must be located in either Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana for inclusion in the Circle of Excellence. For the purpose of this section, residential means single-family homes, condominiums, farms with houses, multi-family dwellings (up to 12-family) and residential building lots. An applicant may qualify by either of the following methods:

Method A.  Dollar Qualification:  Each applicant's company must have been paid a minimum of $97,500 in gross commissions as a result of the applicant's participation in selling, listing, referral fees, tips and/or leasing real estate during the recognition period. Any relocation/referral fee paid out to a network or other referring company/broker must be deducted in computing the commission (this does not include franchise service fees).  Relocation/referral fees retained by the company may be claimed by the agent as part of gross commissions.  Only those dollar amounts listed as commission on the HUD (or settlement) statement can be counted as commissions. Processing and handling fees, as well as other fees for services rendered are not commissions and cannot be counted. Additionally, when two or more agents from the same company are involved in the same transaction, the total commission claimed by each agent must be in relative proportion to the agent's commission split and may not exceed 100% of the commission paid to the company;

--- or ---

Method B.  Unit Qualification:   Each applicant must have earned 19 units with a minimum of $65,000 in gross company commissions. Units shall consist of as follows:  Listing sold and selling = 1 unit; listing sold only = 1/2 unit; selling only = 1/2 unit; leasing = 1/2 unit; 2 or more listing agents = proportionate amount of 1/2 unit; 2 or more selling agents = proportionate amount of 1/2 unit; referral or tip fee = proportionate amount of 1/2 unit.  Any referral fee paid out to a broker/agent must be deducted in computing the commission (this does not include franchise service fees).  Additionally, when two or more agents from the same company are involved in the same transaction, the total commission claimed by each agent must be in relative proportion to the agent's commission split and may not exceed 100% of the commission paid to the company. There will be only one level in qualifying by units.

1.3  An applicant does not need to fill in units unless qualifying by the units method.

Section 2:  LEVELS

A level of recognition will be achieved for each $97,500 or, alternatively, 19 units with a minimum of $65,000 paid to the company; for example:

     Dollar   or    Units Credits

  $  97,500  or    19 units/  $65,000 --- Circle of Excellence 1st Level

  $195,000    Circle of Excellence 2nd Level

  $292,500    Circle of Excellence 3rd Level

  $390,000    Circle of Excellence 4th Level

  $487,500    Circle of Excellence 5th Level

  $585,000    Circle of Excellence 6th Level, etc.

Section 3:  Salaries, bonuses and compensations, other than commissions earned as outlined herein, may not be used to qualify.

Section 4:  All commissions must have been paid the applicant's company during the recognition period. When the commission paid to the company and the closing are not simultaneous, the date on which the latter of the two events occurs shall determine the recognition period when said transaction is to be applied. Commissions that are paid on an installment basis (such as leases, land con­tracts, etc.) or commissions being deferred for use as collateral pledge, may be used to qualify only during the recognition period the commission(s) is paid to the company. 

Section 5:  Any reference to the 'applicant's company' throughout these Rules means the company the applicant was affiliated with at the time of the subject property transaction. An applicant who joins the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®, after the recognition period has started, is eligible provided the commissions claimed were earned during membership with any Realtor Board nationwide (subject to Article 4 Section 1), but with a minimum 3-month membership in the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®.

Section 6:  An applicant who has been found guilty of violating the Circle of Excellence Rules during the recognition period, regardless of the date of the occurrence, may be deemed ineligible for that period (see Article 9). Any applicant who has been found guilty of violating the real estate licensing laws of the Ohio Revised Code during the recognition period, regardless of the date of the occurrence, is ineligible for that period.

ARTICLE 5 - ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Section 1:  To apply for recognition an applicant shall submit the following and it must be received at the Board office by

October 15, 2010 for the recognition period just completed on the September 30th immediately prior thereto:

1.1  The application form must be completed in all details and signed by the applicant;

1.2  Applicant's designated Realtor®/office manager must have signed the application form certifying its validity;

1.3  Attach to the application form three (minimum 2" x 3") black and white (preferred) pictures, with applicant's name printed on the back as it is to appear in any advertising;

1.4  Attach to the application form the entrance fee amount (which is to be established by the Circle of Excellence Committee and which will appear on the entry form) to defray the cost of the Club. NO REFUND WILL BE MADE if applicant is ineligible because of misrepresentation;

1.5  Attach a sample business card showing the Circle of Excellence format as per Article 8 that the applicant intends to use on business cards.

1.6  For late entry, up to 5 business days (Monday-Friday) after the deadline, time is of the essence, the applicant shall submit a Circle of Excellence form along with a check for the entry fee plus a $500 late entry fee per each applicant. In addition, the applicant will automatically be audited.

ARTICLE 6 - VERIFICATION

Section 1:  All entries will be reviewed by the Circle of Excellence Committee for completeness and compliance with contest rules. Improperly submitted entries will be returned and must be resubmitted in proper order, within 7 days of notification, or applicant is automatically disqualified.

Section 2:  Prior to October 27th, the Committee will identify the highest dollar producer, as well as a number of applicants at random, for audit.  If a violation of these rules is discovered during the audit process, that person will automatically be audited the next year the member applies for Circle of Excellence membership.  Those selected for audit shall submit, within 14 days of notification the following substantiating information:

2.1  Circle of Excellence Application

2.2  Closing statement with address or legal description verifying closings (signatures not mandatory).

2.3  Purchase Contracts.

2.4  Listing Contracts (if claiming listing commission).

2.5 Company's transaction reports or sales records used by company, signed and approved by office manager or other documents verifying all pertinent information or cancelled commission checks or copies of same.

2.6 Lease Contracts:  Copy of the third party check must be submitted in support of the broker's commission amount on the transaction report; copy of the commission invoice sent to the lessor; if the transaction report does not show evidence of an agent's participation then the agent should submit relevant correspondence between the agent and the lessor.

2.7  Referral fees must be documented.

      2.8  Improperly submitted audit materials will be returned and must be resubmitted in proper order, per auditor’s instruction (see Article 6 Sec. 2.1-2.7), within 7 days of notification. If the information is not received by the auditor within 7 days, there will be a $250 fine levied against the applicant. If beyond 14 days, the applicant is automatically disqualified. Do not send original files as they will not be returned to you. Send only requested information or you may be disqualified.

Section 3:  If the purchase contracts, listing contracts, or lease agreements are not witnessed or signed by a salesperson claiming participation, or if any of the above are not available, additional supporting evidence or affidavits must be furnished to the satisfaction of the Committee.

ARTICLE 7 - BROKER RESPONSIBILITY

The designated Realtor®, on behalf of the licensees within the designated Realtor®'s company, shall submit each year a Designated Realtor® Application for the Circle of Excellence. The designated Realtor®/office manager (hereinafter referred to as "management") shall sign the initial entry form certifying the validity of the entry and that the company's commission is correctly stated; that management has read the rules, understands them and will abide by them; that management shall be held accountable for the company's activities. IN THE EVENT THAT A SALESPERSON AND/OR MANAGEMENT MAKES A FALSE CLAIM, OR GIVES FALSE INFORMATION, THE APPLICANT AND/OR MANAGEMENT AND INDIVIDUALS OF THE COMPANY MAY BE BARRED FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CLUB FOR THE YEAR THE FALSE INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED AND/OR SUBSEQUENT YEARS.

ARTICLE 8 - PROMOTION

The spirit of this article is to permit certain types of INDIVIDUAL promotion, not company promotion.

Section 1:  No company, office or group of agents associated with the Circle of Excellence of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors® will be permitted to use this contest or its results in any advertising or promotion of the company or individuals connected with the company, including news releases. Further, it is the agent/company's responsibility to take affirmative action to notify news reporters of this Circle of Excellence Rule.

Section 2:  A Circle of Excellence recipient may announce their personal participation in the Circle of Excellence in individual advertising, printed promotional pieces, individual news releases or articles.  However, individual news releases or articles may not be for the sole purpose of announcing membership in the Circle of Excellence. Companies may not participate in collective announcements of Circle of Excellence.  This rule is for individual promotion, not for the collective use by the company, affiliated franchise or multiple recipients, other than co-listers marketing their properties and must include the name of the club (Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors® Circle of Excellence) and the year or years of club membership. Levels may be printed in promotional pieces provided the level(s) appear next to the appropriate club year(s); however, levels may not be printed on business cards.

Section 3:  The names, pictures and company affiliation (at the close of the recognition period) of Circle of Excellence recipients, in alphabetical order by Realtors®, will be placed in the Board's Information Directory and news media as deemed appropriate by the committee from year to year. Recipients will be honored on the same basis with pictures of identical size. The level achieved will appear under the company with which they were affiliated. An asterisk will indicate that a member changed company after September 30th. 

business card in these exact formats:

3-line format:                    Circle of Excellence                                                   Circle of Excellence

                                       Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®    or         CABR

                                       1996, 1997, 1998, 2008                                        or    1996, 1999 thru 2008*

                                                                                                                        *Years must be inclusive.

2-line format:                    CABR Circle of Excellence

                                       1996, 1999 thru 2008

            1-line format:        CABR Circle of Excellence 1996, 1999 thru 2008

Further, the recipient's name shall not be larger than the company's name and the year shall not be larger than the recipient's name.

Section 5:  Those who have qualified for the Million Dollar Club in the past, should incorporate those years with the Circle of Excellence years under one heading “Circle of Excellence” and not reference the Million Dollar Club.

Section 6:  Each applicant must submit with the entry form the design and format of their business card for approval prior to printing. Approval shall be effective after the Awards function.

Section 7:  Out-of-state Million Dollar Club designations may not appear on business cards that are showing the CABR Circle of Excellence format.

ARTICLE 9 - ENFORCEMENT

Section 1:  The Circle of Excellence Committee shall be responsible for enforcement of the Circle of Excellence Rules. When it appears that a violation of these rules has occurred, the public, a member of the Board, the Circle of Excellence Committee, or Board of Directors may file a written complaint, supported by evidence.

Section 2:  The Circle of Excellence Committee, after a hearing which follows the procedure established by the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®, is empowered to decide the case and provide the penalties, consisting of one or more of the following:  warning, reprimand, fine or suspension from the Circle of Excellence. If a fine is deemed to be the appropriate punitive measure, the fine shall be a minimum fine of $100 for the designated Realtor® involved and $100 for each agent involved and the maximum fine shall not exceed $1,000 for the designated Realtor® involved and $1,000 for each agent involved.

ARTICLE 10 - COMMITTEE

Section 1:  The Circle of Excellence Committee shall consist of 15 Realtor® members as follows: 9 persons who were members of the Circle of Excellence the previous year, 5 persons who were not members of the Club but are affiliated with companies who had Circle of Excellence members the previous year, and 1 member affiliated with a company that did not have Circle of Excellence members the previous year. These individuals selected for this committee must be part of the categories specified at the time of selection.

Section 2:  The Committee's function shall be to oversee the administration and operation of the "Circle of Excellence" as per these rules and render decisions on matters pertaining to the Club, subject to approval of the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®.