Real Estate Panel Seeks Ruling on Sale Signs : Home sales: The San Fernando Board of Realtors says the real estate chain Help-U-Sell is using misleading signs. But the franchisees say the complaint stems from its discount fees.

The San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors has asked its parent organization, the National Assn. of Real-tors, to resolve a dispute over for sale signs used by a discount real estate chain, Help-U-Sell.

According to the local board’s executive director, Jim Link, its grievance committee has complained that the signs were misleading because they identified houses as “for sale by owner,” while displaying the logo of the so-called Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is an areawide list of homes for sale that real estate agents use as their basic guide. But the house-listing service cannot be used by people who are selling their own homes without the help of a real estate agent.

Local franchisees of Help-U-Sell, a national chain based in Salt Lake City, dismissed the notion that the signs are misleading and said the complaint stemmed from resentment that Help-U-Sell charges sellers a flat fee of $3,450, which is typically lower than the 6% commission most real estate agents charge for selling a house.

Help-U-Sell franchisee Mark Kahn, based in Sunland, said the for sale signs are accurate because Help-U-Sell doesn’t arrange open houses or viewings for the houses, unlike most real estate agents. That is left to house owners.

Kahn said people selling their homes through Help-U-Sell franchises also can use the Multiple Listing Service through Help-U-Sell, but only if they agree to pay a separate fee to any real estate broker who finds them a buyer. Kahn said in most cases Help-U-Sell’s customers don’t use this option.

Help-U-Sell’s standard service is to compile a list of properties for sale by owners, hand out the list of properties to prospective buyers and screen buyers to make sure they are serious and can afford the houses they look at. Help-U-Sell also negotiates a price and handles paper work for sales.

“The real issue is that they do not want what they call a price-cutter involved in the business in the San Fernando Valley,” said Timothy McCauley, owner of Help-U-Sell of Studio City-Sherman Oaks, one of the franchises named in the complaint.

Link denied that the issue was discount fees. But he added that the dispute can’t be resolved by the local board, since it involves a question of how the logo of the Multiple Listing Service should be used. Link said the national board and Help-U-Sell should negotiate an agreement on the signs. He also said the MLS logo is a trademark owned by the National Assn. of Realtors.

The general counsel for the National Assn. of Realtors could not be reached for comment. Donovan Snyder, an attorney for Help-U-Sell in Salt Lake City, said the Realtors had not contacted him about the conflict.

Kahn said a San Fernando Valley real estate agent made a similar complaint against Help-U-Sell in 1988. Kahn said the complaint was dismissed by the local board’s grievance committee.