Jacksonville Board of REALTORS® Mediation Process
As a REALTOR® principal member of the Jacksonville Board of REALTORS®, you are required to mediate otherwise arbitrable disputes pursuant to Article 17.
When a Request for Arbitration is received, the Association Executive will advise all parties their mediation obligations to participate in mediation prior to review of the arbitration request by the Grievance Committee. Mediation will also be offered prior to a request for arbitration being filed.
If either party requests that mediation be deferred until after the arbitration request can be reviewed by the Grievance Committee, the arbitration request will be referred to the Grievance Committee for that committee’s determination whether (a) an arbitrable issue exists, and (b) whether arbitration would be voluntary or mandatory. Where any party initially declines to mediate pending the Grievance Committee’s review of the arbitration request, the parties shall in all instances again be offered the opportunity to mediate following the Grievance Committee’s review.
As the Board requires REALTOR® (principals) to mediate otherwise arbitrable disputes, there can be no allegation of a violation of Article 17 if a party refuses to mediate unless an arbitration request has been filed, the Grievance Committee has referred the arbitration request for hearing on a mandatory basis, and the party then refuses to mediate.
Since mediation is an attempt to bring the disputing parties together in an informal setting to resolve their differences, every effort should be made to ensure that the parties are provided with adequate prior notice (at least ten [10] days) and that the time and location of the proceeding is mutually convenient to all involved. However, this requirement shall not preclude parties to a dispute waiving such notice and agreeing to mediate at any time agreed by all parties.
If, for any reason, any of the parties (or the Mediation Officer) is unable to participate on the date agreed, the procedure should be rescheduled to the earliest mutually acceptable date. Witnesses, if any, should be kept to a minimum.
Realizing that a dispute already exists between the parties, the Mediation Officer should make every effort to encourage a conciliatory atmosphere while ensuring a full discussion of all pertinent facts. The complainant and respondent should be encouraged to appreciate each other’s position in the matter and to affect a solution that will eliminate the need for arbitration by the Board’s Professional Standards Committee. The parties can agree to a mutual resolution of the matter at any time during the mediation procedure. If, following a thorough discussion of all the pertinent facts, the parties are still unable to resolve the matter; the Mediation Officer may, at the Mediation Officer’s discretion, then make a recommendation. Any recommendation for resolution can be oral or in writing and will be provided to both parties at the conclusion of the mediation procedure.
The parties can agree to the Mediation Officer’s proposed resolution at that time. If neither of the parties desires to give additional consideration to the Mediation Officer’s resolution, both parties will be given a specified period of time, not to exceed forty-eight (48) hours, to consider the resolution and to advise the Mediation Officer of their acceptance or rejection of it. If either of the parties rejects the proposed resolution, the mediation procedure will be deemed concluded and the matter will proceed to arbitration. Any party who does not respond to the Mediation Officer within seventy-two (72) hours will be deemed to have rejected the suggested solution and arbitration will proceed.
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