REALTORS® are held to a high standard of practice put in
place by the Code of Ethics, and in the current tight market conditions, it is
not uncommon to see Code of Ethics disputes come up between agents. There are a
few options for handling these kinds of disputes, the most common of which is an
“ethics complaint,” which is a formal process involving an official hearing in
some cases. For violations of specifics articles and Standards of Practice, complainants have the option of a shorter citation
process.
To file a citation, the complainant just fills out a
one-page form,
providing some of the details of the possible violation. That form goes to a
citation panel, who decides whether the respondent is in violation. If he or
she is found in violation, that person has 20 days to either pay the preset
fine or appeal the decision. If the decision is appealed, it then goes to a
full ethic hearing.
Both ethics complaints and ethics citations are completely
confidential under article 14 of the Code of Ethics. That means that if any
party involved violates that confidentiality, that person would be in violation
of the Code of Ethics, and disciplinary action could be taken.
Citations have set disciplinary actions. No matter what the
violation is, the fine is $250 for the first offense. If the respondent is
found in violation of the same article again, the fine goes up to $500 for the
second offense and $1,000 for the third offense. The second and third offense
also requires the respondent to attend a live Code of Ethics course.
Some of the most cited and violated articles and Standards
of Practice in the citation process include:
- Article 1, SOP 1-16 – Accessing or using, or
allowing others to access or use, a property managed or listed on terms other
than those authorized by the owner or seller - Article 3, SOP 3-8 – Misrepresenting the
availability of access to show or inspect a listed policy - Article 3, SOP 3-9 – Providing access to listed
property on terms other than those established by the owner or the listing
broker - Article 12 – SOP 12-4 – Advertising property for
sale/lease without authority of owner or listing broker
Dan Wilson • June 16, 2022 at 8:36 am
if a realtor input inaccurate data in the MLS sheets when listing a home what article is being violated?