I have been a member of the Key West Association of Realtors Professional Standards Committee for several years. A few weeks ago our committee met to to hear the complaint of one Realtor against another Realtor. The complainant alleged the other agent violated a specif Article of the Code of Professional Responsibility.
CLICK HERE to read the Code and the Code. There isn't a test for readers. But if you take time to read you ought to appreciate the rules and how they apply to real life business dealings involved in the sale and rental of real estate.
All Realtors are required to attend periodic ethics training classes to that they are aware of the ethics rules and standards of conduct expected of them and by others in the profession. Members of the Professional Standards Committee attend additional training classes so they can learn how to effectively participate in future panel hearings. Unlike a jury trial at the county courthouse where juries of ones' peers are plucked off the streets, Professional Standard Committees are composed of real-life professional peers trained to understand the rules so that they may effectively evaluate the evidence and testimony.
The hearing I referred to lasted at least a couple of hours. The participants concluded the presentation of evidence and left. The committee panel members went into executive session with association attorney and CEO also present. At some point one member excused himself to use the restroom. We stopped talking about the case whereupon I said something like "Realtors are held to a higher code of professional responsibility than the President of the United States".
The longer I have been a member of the Professional Standards Committee, the more I appreciate the rules and the enforcement mechanism. It isn't political or business driven. It's about giving the public and aggrieved professionals an opportunity to challenge to conduct of one they believe has wronged them or the profession.
