All posts tagged DORA Forms

Why Do You Think DORA Uses Promulgated Real Estate Forms in Colorado?

Colorado Real Estate Forms

Jeroen van Oostrom | freedigitalphotos

 DORA Forms are Standardized in Colorado Real Estate Transactions

In Colorado, the Department of Regulatory Agencies, or DORA, uses promulgated real estate forms for transactions between real estate agencies and individuals. This might include buying a house or selling a house, as well as some other transactions. There is a purpose for utilizing certain approved real estate forms, although private individuals are not required to use approved forms.

Commission Approved Forms

In any transaction involving real estate brokers that requires forms, commission-approved forms must be used. If there’s a specific transaction taking place in which approved forms have not been created and real estate brokers create their own forms, those forms won’t be covered by Rule F. Rule F also states that any forms used by a broker should not be prepared by a broker, unless it’s permitted by law.

Why Sanctioned Forms?

In normal terms, the state of Colorado feels that that they’re better able to cover all the bases and make sure all parties are protected through the use of certain required forms. Therefore, real estate brokers utilize the pre-printed and approved forms rather than creating their own forms. This is beneficial to the unlicensed parties partaking in contracts, because it ensures that the forms are worded in an appropriate and fair manner.

Colorado

This rule is only applicable in the state of Colorado, so individuals seeking advice about other states should check their own state-specific laws.

Unlicensed Parties

Rule F and the required real estate forms are only for use with a real estate broker. This means that two unlicensed parties who want to have a transaction are not required to use these forms. For instance, if a man places an ad to sell his land and another man wants to purchase it, they’re able to draft their own forms or have their attorneys draft the forms and don’t have to worry about the required forms and Rule F.

Using an Attorney

Even in transactions where approved forms are used, individuals are wise to have their attorney look over the forms and any contracts to ensure that their best interests are looked after. In fact, before signing any sort of purchase contract or agreement, individuals should have it looked at by a real estate attorney.

Approved forms are a great way to ensure that the public is protected and that real estate brokers are unable to take advantage of individuals who may not have a strong understanding of real estate law.  It’s also more convenient for the real estate agent who is handling the transaction. Overall, promulgated forms such as the DORA forms are easy, efficient and protect all parties involved in the transaction.

Looking for a simple solution for generating your Colorado Real Estate Forms, get started now.

Holiday Savings on Colorado Real Estate Contracts

Holiday Seasons Savings – Promotion Closed!

Wow! The response thus far has been amazing. We were told our timeframe was too short to sign up, so we extended it! You now have an additional 24 hours to signup for these amazing savings!

The promotion is now closed.  What amazing reception! Please be sure to follow us on twitter and Facebook. If you missed out on this promotion be on the lookout for upcoming promotions!

We always feel grateful during this time of the year, but given the exceptional reception we have received in Colorado we are feeling a bit more grateful than usual. As a token of our appreciation, we are offering an annual subscription to BULL Forms Colorado at a discounted price of $79.99. That is a 33% savings for signing up before Monday December 12 5:00 PM Tuesday December 13 5:00 PM. Use the code HOHOHO at checkout. Act quickly! This pricing is only available until Monday.

Signing up is easy, see how here.

BULL Forms makes everything easy!

  • Can I sign up online?
  • Can I cancel at anytime?
  • I get all of these features for no additional cost?

These are the questions asked most frequently by individuals interested in signing up for our product, and the answer to all of them is YES!

There is an easier way to create all of your Colorado contracts and have them e-signed – BULL Forms Colorado.

What other’s are saying about BULL Forms

“I signed up online, created my contracts and sent them out for e-signatures within 10 minutes! Thank you for saving me so much time!”

“What I especially like about BULL Forms is the time it saves me. A form that took me 20 – 30 minutes to create on RealFast now takes me about 5.”

“Compared to CTM the learning curve is quick and easy and I’m always learning new features. Signing is a dream and I like that I can decide when I want initials and / or signatures.”

We are making life easier for Colorado Real Estate Professionals, but don’t take our word for it, take a look at some of our recent agent spotlights here.

Happy Holidays from BULL Forms!

Switching from RealFast for DORA Contracts

August 1 2011 RealFast announced that it was acquired by ZipLogix.  For many Colorado Real Estate professionals, this meant it was time to look for a new provider of DORA Colorado Real Estate Contracts.  Change is difficult, especially if you have been using RealFast for an extended period of time and you have built up a large library of transactions.

Here at BULL Forms we are doing our best to ensure a smooth transition to our new users coming over from RealFast.  This guide will assist you in copying over your existing transactions to BULL Forms.  With unlimited storage included with each paying subscription there is no need to worry about uploading too many documents!

Migrating Documents from RealFast2Go

Once you have logged into your realfast2go account, navigate to a transaction that you would like to export.  Click on the create pdf link near the bottom lefthand side of the page, highlighted in yellow below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms For DORA Forms Create PDF

Next, check each of the documents you would like to export into PDF format, again, highlighted in yellow below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado for DORA Forms Export your PDFs

Almost there! Next you have to select the location where the PDF files will be saved. Enter the output directory into the location highlighted below.  Make sure that you select any easy to remember and easily accessible location.

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado Save File

Final step in the export process, click on the create PDF button highlighted below:

Switch from RealFast to BULL Forms Colorado Create PDF

Repeat this process for all of the transactions you would like to import into BULL Forms and you can now start importing your transactions.

Importing transactions into BULL Forms

Now you are ready to import your PDF documents into BULL Forms.  Start by creating a new deal for all of the forms you are going to import.  Click on create new deal near the left hand side.

BULL Forms Colorado Create New Deal

You will be prompted to choose a deal name:

BULL Forms Colorado Select Deal Name

Once you have created the deal, click on the files icon for the deal, as highlighted in yellow below:

BULL Forms Colorado Files

After clicking on the file icon you will enter the file management window.  You can create a folder, or upload all of your documents anywhere you choose.  Click on the upload link:

BULL Forms Colorado Upload Files

From the upload window you can upload multiple files at a time, navigate to the location where you saved your RealFast documents and click on the upload button.

BULL Forms Colorado Upload Files ModalFor more information on our file storage functionality, please read this previous blog post.

If you need assistance transferring previous transactions please contact us here.

Cheers,

BULL Forms!

DORA Contracts Clause Library

We have been busy introducing new features lately, check out our unlimited additional provisions and if you don’t already, please follow us on twitter.

New Clause Library Feature for Colorado DORA Forms

As of last week BULL Forms Colorado has had a clause library available for all DORA Colorado Contracts. As with most features, we try to make them as easy to use as possible. Let’s take a brief walkthrough of the feature.

You can use the clause library to insert your favorite clauses in any field where you see the green + next to field label, like this one;

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Icon

When you click on the green + button, the clause library will open:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Main Window

From within this window you can create, edit, delete and insert clauses into your DORA Colorado Contracts.  To add a new clause click on the add new button near the top right corner of the window:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Add New

When adding a new clause, you select a title for your clause and enter as much text as you like into the content.  If you are inserting a long clause into a small field the text will cut off, so please ensure you pay attention where you are inserting your clauses.

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Add New View

Once the new clause is added it will appear in your main clause library window.  When you are ready to insert a clause into the DORA Colorado Contract, select the clause you would like to insert and click on the “insert clause” button as illustrated below:

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Library Insert

The clause will automatically be inserted into the field.  If there is text currently in the field, the inserted clause is appended to the end of the current text.

DORA Colorado Contracts Clause Inserted

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

Unlimited Additional Provisions for DORA Contracts

Additional Provisions for DORA Contracts

If you don’t already, please follow us on twitter!

During our short time of existence one of the most frequently requested features was for more space in the additional provisions field in many of the DORA contracts.  When BULL Forms Colorado initially launched we only had about 250 characters of space in many of the DORA contracts.  We quickly discovered that this was not even close to enough space.

While we have made incremental improvements to the size of the additional provisions fields for the DORA contracts, it was never quite enough.  While on the phone with some of our users they indicated they sometimes included up to three pages of additional provisions.

Upgraded Additional Provisions

We currently are supporting unlimited additional provisions in all of the DORA Sales Contracts.  There is no change to the end user, there are just no longer any restrictions on the amount of information that can be input into these fields.

Here is a preview of the additional provisions field in our “easy view”

Additional Provisions on DORA Contracts

and here is the field in our classic view:

For the purpose of illustration we are going to insert some of our favorite developer text into the field (Lorem Ipsum).

Easy View:

DORA Forms Additional Provisions Filled In

Classic View:

DORA Forms Additional Provisions Filled In

When we print the contract BULL Forms Colorado will automatically calculate the additional pages required to fit all of the additional provisions you enter into your DORA contracts.

DORA Contracts Additional Provisions PDF

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

Don’t forget you can also e-sign all of your DORA Contracts!

How to E-sign DORA Colorado Contracts

All subscribers to BULL Forms Colorado have unlimited e-sign capabilities built into their accounts. Just as fax machines made our lives as real estate professionals easier in the 1990’s, e-signature capabilities are increasing our efficiency today. You no longer have to print out documents and fax or scan them to your clients. Then sit and wait for them to return the documents hoping and praying that they are sent back correctly the first time. Then the revisions begin!

Why not increase your efficiency and save some time during the signature process? Send out your contracts for e-signature and you don’t have to worry about your clients signing or initialing in the wrong places.  All of the DORA (Division of Regulatory Agencies) forms can easily be sent out for e-signatures.  Adding to the time savings is the fact that all of the signature spots and initial locations have already been placed for you. All of this is great! But how do you use e-signatures on your DORA contracts?  Read on:

E-signature Process for DORA Forms

After you have completed all of the DORA contracts that you would like to send out for e-signatures, click on the email icon, which is an envelope with a pen, highlighted in the yellow circle below:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-sign Icon

Once you have clicked on the email icon, the email window will appear on the screen. You want to send out documents for e-signature, click on the yes radio button:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Email Window

After choosing to send out your documents for e-signatures, you will be presented with options for e-signing your DORA forms. All of the signature spots have been placed for you, all you have to do is select who you want to sign the documents and where you want the parties to sign.  We have assigned “roles” to all of the available signature locations.

Roles for E-Signatures

  • Buyer 1
  • Buyer 2
  • Seller 1
  • Seller 2
  • Tenant 1
  • Tenant 2
  • Landlord 1
  • Landlord 2
  • Buyers or Tenants Agent
  • Listing Agent
  • Escrow Agent
At this time, these are the only roles / signature spots available. Do not worry if you are looking for more functionality from our e-signature feature, its coming soon..

Sending your DORA Forms out for E-signature

Enter the first name, last name and email address for the party you want to sign the documents and then select their role.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Add Role

To add another party to the transaction, click on the add signer link:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Add Signer

If you have added all of the parties that you want to sign the document you are ready to send it out for signatures. Make sure you have added all of the roles, if they are not included now you will have to start a new e-signature transaction.

Before sending out the documents make sure you select all of the forms within the deal that you want to send out for signatures. You should also enter a descriptive subject line and comments to all of the parties receiving the email.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Send Signatures

Congratulations, you have just sent your DORA Forms out for e-signatures.

E-signing the DORA Forms

All of the parties you included in the transaction will receive an email when it is their turn to sign the documents. All parties will have to consent to transacting electronically with you and your company, if you have added your company in your membership profile. This consent ensures that you are complying with all of the e-sign laws.

When a signer clicks on the link in their email, they will be taken to the main e-signature page:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Consent

Once the party e-signing agrees to conduct business electronically they will receive an email with their confirmation. They will then be taken to an area that allows them to customize their signatures and initials.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Steps

The program can either generate initials and signatures for the user, or they can create their own using the mouse to write their initials or signatures.  The option to change your initials is below:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Initials

Here is the window to change the signature:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Esignature Custom Signature

Once the user has created their signature preferences they will be taken to the signature window:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Start

On the left hand side of the page the signor will see all of the pages that require attention.  On the document above pages 1 through 8 require attention and are showing with a red background and orange tab.  As initials and signatures are completed on each page, that page will turn green. By clicking on the next location button the user will be taken to the next initial or signature location requiring their attention.

An initial location will look like this:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Initial Location

A signature location will appear as follows:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Signature Location

Once all initials and signatures have been completed a green button near the bottom of the screen will blink and the user will be prompted to complete the transaction.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Complete

After the user has completed their portion of the signature transaction they will receive an email notifying them they have completed signing the document.  They will also receive a link allowing them to download the document they just signed.  The next party in the transaction will now be notified via email and will start the e-signature process over again.

Checking on the Status of DORA E-signatures

You have sent out your DORA contracts for e-signatures, but you have not received the completed document back yet. What do you do? You can access your e-signature transactions from your e-signature dashboard.  From within the BULL Forms click on the “dashboard” link near the top right of the screen:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA Dashboard

From within the dashboard, click on the e-signature tab:

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Panel

When in the e-signature panel you can view all of your pending, completed and cancelled transactions. If for any reason one of the members in a transaction has not received an email you can resend the email.  If you need to cancel a transaction at anytime you can also do it from here.

BULL Forms Colorado DORA E-signature Transaction List

This wraps up our tutorial on how to use our e-signature feature with Colorado DORA Forms.  If you have any questions please feel free to use our contact form.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

BULL Forms Colorado is in the Chrome Web Store!

BULL Forms Colorado web app is live in the Google Chrome Web Store.

Good news for all of our users generating Colorado Real Estate forms using Chrome as their web browser of choice.  Our web application is now live in the Google Chrome Web Store.  What does this mean for you? First of all, you can easily install the application by heading to the Chrome Web Store and searching for BULL Forms. Once installed, you will be able to easily navigate to BULL Forms Colorado and start generating DORA Forms within seconds. We have outlined the steps to installing the application below:

First head to the Chrome Store chrome.google.com/webstore

BULL Forms Colorado Google Chrome Web Store

Now search for BULL Forms Colorado:

Search for BULL Forms

When you reach the results page, go ahead and click on our BULL Forms Mascot, “Bob the Bull”

Web Store Search Results

You will then be taken to the details page:

Installation Page

Click on install and the magic will happen behind the scenes.  Now the BULL Forms Colorado Web application has been installed into your Chrome Web Browser.  You can access it whenever you start up your computer or open a new tab, as pictured below:

Installation CompleteAnd that is a wrap folks.  Click on “Bob the Bull” and you will be taken to your favorite site for Generating Colorado Real Estate Forms.  As always, stay on the lookout for improvements and we will notify you as soon as we have added more functionality to the application.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team

Feature Update – Classic View and Strike Out

We are excited to announce that we have just launched a new way to use BULL Forms.  Most of you are used to seeing a screen such as the one below when completing a contract.

BULL Forms Quick View

We are now calling this view “quick-view.”  Our intentions with this view were to make completing contracts as easy as possible by removing all of the additional text that experienced Colorado Real Estate agents do not need to read when completing their contracts.  While reception to “quick-view” has been mostly positive, we have received several requests to be able to view the contract while inputting information.  Another requested feature was strikethrough.  Given that you cannot view the entire text of the real estate contract was not visible in “quick-view” it was impossible to implement strikethrough.

Therefore, we decided to launch “classic-view.”  Now, when you toggle your view to “classic-view” you will see something like the image below:

BULL Forms Classic View

Using “classic-view” you can now see all of the Division of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) contracts while you are completing them. You can also easily switch between the views by clicking on the view toggle near the top of the page.

BULL Forms Select View

While you are in classic view you can also use the strike through feature.  Start by clicking on the “Turn Strike Out On” link, as pictured here:

BULL Forms Strike Out

Once you have clicked on the link, your cursor will take a new shape, start by clicking where you would like to begin striking out, drag your mouse along as far as you would like to strike out.  Don’t worry, the tool only allows you to create straight lines! When you have reached the end of the sentence or the end of the area you would like to strike out, click again, you should see something like below:

BULL Forms Strike Out in Progress

Once completed fret not, it is possible to remove the strike out from the document.  You can do so by clicking on the red “X” at the end of the line, as highlighted below:

BULL Forms Remove Strike Out

This about wraps up our coverage of our new “Classic-view” and strike out features.  Now get out there and generate some Colorado Real Estate Contracts and make some deals!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please drop us a line.

Thank you,

BULL Forms Team