Contacting others clients/customers

Hey, Russ-I've had a problem recently that I was wondering if you could help with.

A "competitor" out of the western part of the state seems to be contacting my sellers and trying to persuade them to list with him. I've talked to other friends in my farm area and he is apparently not contacting everyone, just those that have their homes listed.

Isn't this wrong? Can you help?



Dear Wronged:

Believe it or not, I had the same problem when my house was recently on the market and I wonder if it was the same "competitor." If it is, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it, as this "competitor" is not a REALTOR.

For REALTORs, the Code of Ethics prohibits contacting anothers' exclusive sellers, if they are knowingly targeting those with exclusive relationships. For instance, if another REALTOR is simply going through the MLS and then contacting sellers, they would clearly be in violation.

However, since this other party is not a REALTOR, they obviously do not have to abide by the Code. Furthermore, the license laws do not prohibit this type of activity.

Wrong, no. Immoral, perhaps. Again, the Code and the Golden Rule are what set REALTORs apart...

The NAR and NCAR are always trying to stress the differences in dealing with a REALTOR but it's also up to each and every one of us to help educate the public. Make sure all of your buyers and sellers know the difference between a licensee and a REALTOR!

Russ

Signage

Here is another email that I just received this week, along with my reply:

Russ,

I recently noticed a sign on a property in my market area that is for a company that is no longer in business. The property is in MLS with the agents that now belong to another company.What's going on with that?


This is another interesting item. Once a company goes out of business, the listing agreement for that property "dies" as well. If the same agents are marketing the property, they should have changed the signage along with getting the new listing agreement. (The listing agreement belonged to the brokerage, not the agents).

Article 12 of the Code of Ethics deals with portraying a "true picture" in advertising, marketing, etc., which this signage is NOT doing.

In addition, I don't know why you would want your name associated with the old company, along with the old phone numbers!