An oft discussed topic for old fogey real estate professionals that the young ‘uns should pay attention to is the special status that real estate agents have as independent contractors. In this country, Real Estate is a protected industry, mainly because it is seen politically as the main step in the ladder to the middle class. This has affected mortgage policy and real estate agents, they have been purposely given generous terms. The point of bringing these points up is that real estate does not exist in a vacuum, and it cannot exist as it does today without massive government backing, through regulation, taxation and legislation. The recent signing of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) is a step to close this. Though the purpose of the bill is to target the ‘gig economy’ of Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Postmates and hundreds of others, there was a special exception for certain types of workers, including real estate. This policy codifies an earlier legal decision from the California Supreme Co...