The Standard of Practice
REALTORS® shall not knowingly, during or following the termination of professional relationships with their clients:
1) reveal confidential information of clients; or
2) use confidential information of clients to the disadvantage of clients; or
3) use confidential information of clients for the REALTOR®’s advantage or the advantage of third parties unless:
a) clients consent after full disclosure; or
b) REALTORS® are required by court order; or
c) it is the intention of a client to commit a crime and the information is necessary to prevent the crime; or
d) it is necessary to defend a REALTOR® or the REALTOR®’s employees or associates against an accusation of wrongful conduct.
Okay – so we have all read the Standards of Practice before, hopefully!
What is Confidential?
What does confidentiality mean? How do we protect our client’s confidential information? What information is confidential?
For my clients, it is anything which has no bearing on the facts of the contract or does not need to be disclosed. Period! The buyer of my client’s property has no need to know anything about my client’s personal life; their marital status, children, job, their spouses’ job, whether they have bought another home or anything else, unless my client has given permission for me to disclose. Confidentiality is not limited to what their bottom line is!
Our Clients Trust Us
When we create a relationship with a client, we learn a lot about them. We may know they are facing a divorce or have had a death in the family. We know where they work and what their financial status is. Sometimes, we are privy to more detail than we even care to know about. ? For me, that’s okay, because sometimes my clients just need someone to talk to. One thing for sure, they do not expect me to tell anyone else.
We advise our clients not to talk to buyers or other agents if they happen to be home during showings. They will always say too much! We need to do the same during our communication with the buyer or seller’s agent. Besides the obvious of not talking too much and revealing specific information, how can we protect our client’s confidentiality?
Common Sense Practices
Get rid of the diplomas – a buyer who sees the seller is a doctor, engineer, attorney, etc. assumes they have money and can afford to take less. I once hid my client’s medical coats to the back of the hall closet and advised him to keep them there.
Don’t be lazy – when your client emails you with a cover sheet from their employer, remove the cover sheet before forwarding the necessary documents and black out the return fax number and any identifying info. I had a buyer who determined the seller was wealthy because of where they worked. They knew because the cover sheet was attached with the other documents and hey, I represent my client, so any bit of information I can get is forwarded.
Have your clients keep bills and private mail in a secure place. No need for the buyer to see a past due notice sitting on the kitchen counter or know the balance of the current mortgage.
These are just a few ideas. I‘m sure there are many others; please share your best practices for protecting your client’s confidential information.
