- Flickr photo by marttj
BROKER WARS: Tales from the Front
This is the final part of my series on broker ethics. In Part 1, I gave examples of breaches that I have seen in the last year. In Part 2, I described the minimum amount of training and education that a real estate agent must have to become licensed. In this third part, I suggest a path for dealing with the issue.
To my mind, a code of ethics that imposes compelling penalties must be instituted and enforced.
On the Web site of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), I tried to find anything at all about ethical standards, as I mentioned in my previous post. But the only information on the Web site had to do with class schedules. Not a word on what the standards might be or what to do if a consumer thought they had been violated.
I’ve been told by a onetime sales manager in a now-defunct brokerage that it is possible to report an offense to REBNY. (How continues to mystifies me.) However, said the manager, nothing happens if you do so.
By contrast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has a strong Code of Ethics. Reflecting and greatly expanding upon state laws, it has teeth. Continue reading
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