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REAL ETHICS by Steve Stazel | March 2010 | Index of all Real Ethics columns
Thinking about switching your brokerage?
The Professional Standards committee has created a new case study which you will find interesting.
It is Case Study 12-25, which reads as follows:
REALTOR® Q was a non-principal broker licensed with ABC REALTORS®. REALTOR Q specialized in buyer representation. A prominent feature on her website carried the headline “I sold these – and I can help you buy or sell, too!” Under the headline was a list of more than100 street addresses of properties for which REALTOR® Q had found buyers.
For personal and professional reasons, REALTOR® Q chose to leave the ABC firm to affiliate with XYZ REALTORS®. As she transitioned to her new firm, REALTOR® Q was careful to disclose the name of her new firm in a readily apparent manner on her website. Her website also continued to display the list of properties for which she had found buyers during her time with the ABC firm.
REALTOR® Q's parting with ABC had been amicable, so she was surprised to receive a complaint brought by her former principal broker, REALTOR® C, alleging a violation of Article 12, as interpreted by Standard of Practice 2-7, based on her website's display of sales made while REALTOR® Q had been affiliated with ABC.
At the hearing, REALTOR® C noted that Standard of Practice 12-7 provides, in part, that “only REALTORS® who participated in the transaction as the listing broker or cooperating broker (selling broker) may claim to have ‘sold’ the property.” REALTOR® C added that it was the company ABC REALTORS® “that was the selling broker in these transactions, not our former sales associate REALTOR® Q. Her advertising our sales under the umbrella of her new firm, XYZ REALTORS®, is confusing at best, and potentially misleading to consumers who may get the impression the XYZ firm was involved in these transactions when that is not the case.”
REALTOR® Q defended herself and her website, arguing that the fact that she had found the buyers for each of the properties listed on her website was still true, and that the only thing that had changed was her firm affiliation. “If it was true when I was licensed with ABC, then it's still true even though I'm now licensed with XYZ,” she reasoned.
The hearing panel agreed that REALTOR® Q had, in fact, sold the properties, albeit while licensed with ABC. The ad, however, suggested that the sales were made while the REALTOR® Q was licensed with XYZ, which was not the case. Consequently REALTOR® Q was found in violation of Article 12.
Each month, the Aurora Outlook features RealEthics, a column by Steve Stazel devoted to explaining Code of Ethics issues for members. The comments stated in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Association of REALTORS®, the Colorado Association of REALTORS® or the Aurora Association of REALTORS®. Ultimately, a hearing panel of the Professional Standards Committee determines whether a violation of the Code of Ethics has occurred on a case-by-case basis. These comments should not serve as the foundation of any ethics complaint, arbitration request or response.
If you have an ethical concern or an issue you would like
to see addressed, please call Stazel at (303) 773-3333 or e-mail him at
stazels@msn.com. The comments of this article reflect the understanding and
opinions of the author and do not represent an official expression of policy by the National Association
of REALTORSŪ.
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