One of My Favorite Subjects- Trumping

My family loves to play cards! I cannot tell you how many nights we sit around the table playing sheepshead for hours. When we owned our own restaurant (we lived in the attached housing) we were closed on Mondays in the winter off season. Every Monday we would load up the kids and the cards and go to a little hole in the wall resort, where often we were the only people there, eat dinner and then play cards until 9pm. On New Years Day, the Kennedy family holds a large family gathering where cards rule the day. It was a common site to see several groups of Kennedys playing sheepshead. When I got married to my husband over a quarter of a century ago it was a pre-requisite that I liked to play cards (my family played pinochle with the same fervor the Kennedys play sheepshead) and that I learned the game- every Kennedy learns the game with the average player starting in earnest around 8 years of age. It was through cards that I learned the concept of trumping.

Trumping allows one card to override the other and hence takes the "trick" or all the cards played. I think that because I am such an avid card player I was able to easily wrap my mind around procuring cause. As REALTORS you have all agreed to abide by the Code of Ethics where procuring cause trumps every other card played in the transaction. Procuring cause can even trump a contract because as REALTORS you have agreed through your membership that you will concede a commission to the member who has procuring cause.

While the concept of trumping helps us to understand how one can lose a commission the definition of what constitutes procuring cause can be a little murky. Procuring cause is conceptual which means that each situation must be reviewed individually by a panel of your peers. Your OKCMAR Board of Directors is committed to educating the membership in professional standards. Twice per year, spring and fall, we bring in national speakers (both attorneys) who take us through the procuring cause concept. This Octber 22, Bruce Aydt will host the procuring cause session for brokers and their associates. I especially like the format of this session.

During the day Bruce will offer two Professional Standards Core Courses. This is a great opportunity to complete your required CE with instruction from a national instructor. Again, OKCMAR is offering this wonderful educational opportunity to its members at no cost! That evening OKCMAR's Broker's Quarterly Committee hosts a dinner at the Marriot (this year they have opened up the event to REALTOR-Associates as guests of the broker for $10) where Bruce will present an overview of procuring cause followed by an open question & answer discussion period. This session is not a CE course but the chance to ask those nagging questions about procuring cause and receive an answer from a national expert. I encourage all to attend. To register click here