
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.
Sarah Cooper
March 12, 2009 at 2:47 am
Ahhh, this is such an easy thing to do that it’s not even funny.
Lisa Sanderson
March 12, 2009 at 5:38 am
Good advice, Kim, and thanks for the reminder. Don’t confuse insensitivity with edginess.
Missy Caulk
March 12, 2009 at 7:12 am
I hate mauve carpet.
Opps the buyers loved it. This said back my first year in the business. 1995
I learned,”keep your mouth shut”.
KimWood
March 12, 2009 at 11:49 am
Sarah… I would agree with you… it’s easy for most of us – and we probably don’t even have to ‘think ‘about it… however, after hearing about my friend’s experience, it showed me that it isn’t always the case.
Lisa… Insensitivity vs. Edginess – true, but not excuse for blatant insensitivity when insulting another. I’m sure that isn’t what you meant though.
Missy…. ahh yes… I’ve been guilty of that… Check out that black foil wallpaper!
Jill Wente
March 12, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Kim:
I too learned the keep your mouth shut rule the hard way. I was in my first year in real estate and eager to show my knowledge of real estate. , I was showing a home to first time home buyers.
I was showing a home to first time home buyers and quickly pointed out that the water storage tank the home backed up to would affect the home’s future resale value.
The husband turned to me and said “I bet the home gets real good water pressure”. Lesson learned.
I still point out the items that affect future resale value but I wait until my clients show an interest in the home.
Dan Connolly
March 13, 2009 at 8:28 am
I sat at a closing once and the buyers were telling everyone what a great agent I was, not like their first agent (they named him) who was a totally incompetent mess, unprofessional….well, she went on and on.
The agent was the closing attorney’s husband. The attorney was professional enough not to blink at the closing. She did, however write a letter to the buyer telling her that she would be charged with slander, and to expect to be summoned to court. She didn’t follow through, but the buyer had a few sleepless nights.