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CODE OF ETHICS & STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

CODE OF ETHICS & STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

CODE OF ETHICS & STANDARDS OF PRACTICE


Being a Realtor is a great career, that implies a lot of responsibility, since we have a fiduciary relationship with our clients, but also we need to act in the proper manner, of doing the right thing, but it's best to be informed of what is allowed or not, that is why taking the Ethics and standard of practice is a requirement established by the NAR

You can take it ONLINE, or you can go to your association and take it there, in my case I did both, I took it online and I registered to take it at my association (Bonita Spring Estero, BER)



There's 17 articles that are part of the code of Ethics, I won't go into details on each one, but I am just going to summarize them:


  1. ARTICLE 1 - Protect the interest of your client (Buyer, Seller, Tenant, Landlord, etc), and treat all parties with honesty.
  2. ARTICLE 2 - Avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment (hide) of pertinent facts, regarding the property or the transaction.
  3. ARTICLE 3 - Cooperate with other brokers, except when is not in the best interest of your client, and without the need to share commision.
  4. ARTICLE 4 - If you want to buy a property for yourself or your family members without disclose that you are a realtor. (In writing)
  5. ARTICLE 5 - If you are interested in a property, before you provide professional services, you have to disclose to all parties.
  6. ARTICLE 6 - Don't take any commissions, rebates or payments on expenditures made for your clients without they know and approve.
  7. ARTICLE 7 - In a transaction, can not get commissions from more than one party, without disclosure to all parties.
  8. ARTICLE 8 - You have to have a separate bank account, in case you get money in trust from your client such as escrow, trust funds etc.
  9. ARTICLE 9 - All agreements regarding real estate (listing, purchasing, contracts) should be in writing for the protection of all parties and deliver a copy of it to all parties.\
  10. ARTICLE 10 - Don't discriminate, we can not refuse our services for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sex, handicap, sexual orientation, familial status or national origin. The presenter gave us an example: If you have a customer that wants to see a two story house, you notice the wife is in a wheelchair, you can't mention the house is a two story house, but to agree on showing the house.
  11. ARTICLE 11 - Real Estate has different "specializations", just like the doctors or lawyers, example; residential, commercial, property management, land brokerage, etc, so don't provide professional service if this is out of your scope.
  12. ARTICLE 12 - When you advertise yourself, or brand yourself as a realtor, be honest and truthful, post a real picture of yourself, this is not a dating site where you post a fake picture of a model or a picture that doesn't look like you at all, and make apparent and disclose that you are a REALTOR.
  13. ARTICLE 13 - This article basically states that we are not lawyers so when it comes to a transaction we can not practice law when is required, just refer your client to a lawyer.
  14. ARTICLE 14 - If you got charged with any unethical practice or asked to present evidence you need to cooperate in any proceedings of investigation.
  15. ARTICLE 15 - Do not make false or misleading statements about other real estate professionals, in other words don't talk bad or lie about your fellow realtors.
  16. ARTICLE 16 - This is a long article, but the most important thing I learned about it is that we can not seek representation of a customer when they have an exclusive agreement with another agent. Avoid mediation and arbitration when it comes on splitting commissions.
  17. ARTICLE 17 - If there's a dispute on splitting commissions, the board will seek mediation (both parties will agree) or arbitration (the decision will be set by the board).


I hope this helps and gives you a clearer picture of how to conduct your business, if you like this article or think it could be useful to other Realtors, please share!

I also want to thank Mr David Hengel who provided this class, apart from scared us (joke), he also is an inspiration of life, since he had a second chance of life and dedicate his life to real estate and to teach others, Thank you all for reading! wish you the best in your Real Estate career !!