In today’s real estate market, many clients expect you to text them. Recent data shows that communication via text message is important to 72% of Texas buyers. But while texts may be convenient, they can be risky if an errors & omissions claim arises, according to Barney Schwartz, Senior Vice President at Assured Partners, a Texas REALTORS® risk management partner.
Consider these steps to protect yourself if you text clients:
Avoid emojis
Schwartz warns agents and brokers to avoid emojis in business communications as they can be misinterpreted. Emojis can cause problems later if you are trying to defend yourself as part of an E&O claim. Does that thumbs-up emoji mean your client understood what you said, agreed with you, or simply received your message? What does that smiley face mean?
Save your texts
“I always remind people that most E&O claims happen six months to a year after the transaction, not a week later,” Schwartz says.
Documentation is one of the best ways to protect yourself against E&O claims. If you text your clients that they should get a home inspection and they don’t get one, you will not be able to prove you made that suggestion without a copy of that text message.
You want to save all written communication with your client, including text messages, in your client’s file. Keeping messages on your phone is not enough. If you lose or break your phone or have a technical mishap, the messages would be gone.
Schwartz recommends taking screenshots of texts. That way, the name and phone number are visible or can be matched with info in your contacts. You can then back up those screenshots securely and save them for as long as your firm’s retention policy requires.
Consider email
You can use email to reinforce and expand on your text communications. Emails are often longer than text messages, providing a better format to explain complex steps and allowing you to easily attach documents.
Another option is to follow up a text conversation with an email summarizing your texts and identifying the action items you’ll take as a result. You could even include screenshots of the text conversation as an additional record.
Don’t rely on one system
Choose a secure system to back up your text messages and other important documents. Having an offline copy in an external hard drive is a good idea.
If your backup is connected to the internet or automatically backs up to the cloud, your files may be at risk if your computer is infected with ransomware. If ransomware encrypts your files and your computer automatically backs up to the cloud every day, soon your backup files will match the encrypted computer files.
When using a system that backs up files online, Schwartz suggests using a company that keeps previous versions of your files for 45 to 90 days. That way you can access versions of your files not infected with ransomware.
Think big picture
Part of your job as an agent is to provide clients with information to help them make decisions and to document how you provided that information. Schwartz asks: Does a text message provide that level of documentation?
“Everyone assumes that they aren’t going to get sued,” Schwartz says. “Everyone thinks, ‘If I say and do the right things, nothing will happen to me.’ And that’s just not the case.”