
An animated discussion on ethics training
“Does anyone else find it ironic that NAR – the trade association for Realtors – has to mandate that members take an ethics class every four years?” An agent who attended one of my company’s broker opens yesterday posed that question to the wine and cheese grazing attendees. Of course, that opened up an animated discussion on the value of etchics training and the lack of enforcement when the rules are violated.
One agent volunteered that the guy sitting next to her in her last ethics class played games on his cell phone and then cheated during the test at the end of the class. Seriously, dude? You cannot even pay attention long enough to pass what should be the easiest test you’ll ever have to take in your career? Perhaps he was just seeing how far he could push it by cheating during an ethics test, to see if anyone else around him caught the extreme irony there. None of the other agents around him – including the agent he cheated off – turned him in and the instructor didn’t notice.
This same agent later called one of my sellers and tried to convince him to break a listing contract with me, because he had a “guaranteed buyer” in the wings. The seller was an attorney, and this bozo tried to get me cut out of the deal, offering the seller a reduced fee to dump me. The seller held firm and directed the agent to call me, then the seller called to let me know about the conversation.
“But you know if you file something the other agent will know.”
It gets better. After the deal closed, I requested paperwork from our local Board of Realtors to file an ethics complaint. The person in charge said, “But you know if you file something the other agent will know.” Gee. Really? I asked her to send the paperwork over anyway.
I called the seller/attorney and asked him to repeat the conversation to me, because I was documenting it to file a complaint. He turned wishy washy on me at that point and his story changed from “The other agent tried to get me to dump you as the listing agent to cut you out” to “Well he really only asked a few questions and I told him to call you. He probably didn’t mean any harm by it.” So there goes my star witness, who doesn’t want to rock the boat.
I didn’t file the complaint. I resorted to the “turn the blind eye but never trust the sleazeball again” path. And that is what happens to almost all ethics issues I hear about / see in person.
That’s what happens when you have a self-policing group of “professionals” who would rather not “narc” on a fellow agent. After all you’re probably going to end up on the other side of a deal from this guy some day, right? The guy in my example has sold two of my houses since that run-in. Why tick him off by filing a complaint and going through all that hassle? If he stops bringing buyers to my properties then my sellers ultimately lose, right?
Boiling down the CoE
The NAR Code of Ethics takes up pages and pages of tiny print, and it runs each year in their trade magazine (I think it’s the January issue). Does anybody read that? Probably not many. I’d argue none of us ever should have to read it again. Simply follow this advice instead. The thousands of words in the Code boil down to one thing: Do unto other agents, and consumers, and clients, what you would have them do unto you. It’s the Golden Rule. Simple. Well, obviously not, for many agents and brokers.
The sad part is the agent in my example had no clue how close I was to filing that compaint, and if he did know he’d probably scratch his head and wonder why his actions were “wrong.” Making us take a one-day class every few years won’t “make” the unethical agents suddenly operate ethically. Most of them just don’t get it.
Mack
January 21, 2009 at 8:16 am
Showing a little respect for your peers certainly goes a long way especially when it come to negotiating with that agent. I have seen agent be so adversarial that there is probably no way the coop agent even want to deal with them.
teresa boardman
January 21, 2009 at 10:21 am
How we treat our peers is important. The co broke relationship should not be adversarial but it often is. We serve our clients best when we think about their best interests and work well with the other agent.
Bill Lublin
January 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Mack & Teresa – You guys get what so many people seem to forget today – that cooperation is a privilege, not a right – and like any other privilege, it should be cherished and maintained properly to avoid deterioration/
Thanks for visiting and sharing
Suzanne Gantner
January 21, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I firmly believe when you are courteous, kind and pay it forward, you will receive the world back. You should be nice to everyone you meet and see. It pays off in the end tenfold!!
Danilo Bogdanovic
January 21, 2009 at 3:34 pm
What you give is what you get. If you want to be regarded and treated as a “professional”, act and treat others like one.
It’s really that simple.
Brandie Young
January 21, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Thanks, Bill. Nice post.
Wouldn’t it be nice if one day there would be absolutely no need to remind someone of this? I think “mean people suck” pretty much sums it up, and that can include rude at times.
It seems we see an uptick in good behavior following cataclysmic events, i.e. September 11th. It’s a shame it doesn’t stick for a greater length of time. I think the current economy and it’s humbling effect is also bringing courtesy back into vogue, but for how long remains to be seen.
Cheers!
Brandie
Vicki Moore
January 22, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I don’t like being treated like a punching bag though. Some think that because I’m a professional I’m going to tolerate anything they say with a smile. That really bugs me.