{"id":2646,"date":"2016-10-21T08:12:06","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T12:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2019-07-14T08:43:44","modified_gmt":"2019-07-14T12:43:44","slug":"realtor-ethics-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/21\/realtor-ethics-presidential-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Realtor ethics and presidential election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"realtor<\/a>
Realtor ethics (infographic from visualistan.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Allegations of sabotage, fraud, and collusion.\u00a0 A yearning for power and money.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget about the sex, lies, and video tape.\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not referring to this year\u2019s presidential election \u2013 I\u2019m talking about Realtor ethics (although the similarities are intriguing).\u00a0 I\u2019ve reported in the past about real estate agents who\u2019ve engaged in fraud, sabotage and collusion while taking part in scams<\/a>.\u00a0 There have also been the recent reports of alleged money laundering and extortion<\/a>.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget the agents caught on video<\/a> in homes for sale engaging in sexual acts, rummaging through underwear drawers, and stealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Association of Realtors\u00ae (realtor.org) is proud of their Code of Ethics<\/a>, which was first introduced in 1913. And for years, the NAR has promoted the Code of Ethics as one of the feature advantages of hiring a Realtor\u00ae.\u00a0 And notwithstanding the focus on high ethical standards, some agents still act repugnantly.\u00a0 And as a result, it\u2019s not a surprise that real estate agents typically fall in the lower to middle range of Gallup\u2019s Honesty\/Ethics in Professions<\/em> poll<\/a> (gallup.com).\u00a0 The December 2-5th<\/sup> 2015 poll indicated real estate agents ranked below journalists, bankers, and lawyers in honesty and ethical standards (lobbyists and members of congress are at the bottom of the ranking).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why are agents often viewed as unscrupulous and dishonest?  The answer begins with the purpose of the NAR Code of Ethics.  Jeremiah Conway and John Houlihan\u2019s 1982 study (The Real Estate Code of Ethics: Viable or Vaporous?<\/em><\/a>; Journal of Business Ethics. 1;201-210) determined to find out if the NAR Code of Ethics was just a \u201cclever\u201d marketing scheme or a viable tool for \u201cpromoting and enforcing\u201d ethical behavior.  Their critique of the 1982 version of the NAR Code of Ethics exposed \u201cnumerous ethical flaws.\u201d  They revealed loopholes for enforcement as well as statements that promoted the interests of Realtors\u00ae, contrary to the \u201cservice of the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And although required to adhere to the NAR Code of Ethics, there are still some agents who breach their duties to the public and their clients for their own benefit.  George Izzo\u2019s 2000 study of moral reasoning and ethical decisions in real estate (Cognitive Moral Development and Real Estate Practitioners<\/em><\/a>. Journal of Real Estate Research., 20;1;179-188) revealed that cognitive moral development and ethics are mutually exclusive.  While some are more \u201cmature\u201d in their moral reasoning and motivations, the study determined there is no difference among stages of moral development when making ethical decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a person\u2019s moral reasoning is just irrational, illogical, or unfounded \u2013 regardless of how high the purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been thirty-four years since Conway and Houlihan\u2019s assessment of the NAR Code of Ethics.  Of course, the NAR Code of Ethics is updated each year to reflect changes in technology and business; however, the basic purpose remains unchanged \u2013 promote your client\u2019s best interest, cooperate with other agents, treat all parties honestly, a commitment to the truth and refrain from misrepresentation (among other things).  Since then, the changes to the Code have been overwhelmingly positive such that the NAR Code of Ethics framework has been adopted into real estate licensing laws across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, after decades of promoting Realtor ethics as a basis for hiring one, it became clear that consumers did not choose their agents based on ethical behavior<\/a>.  As a result, in 2014 the NAR began to promote Realtor added value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Dan Krell
Copyright\u00a9 2016 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original published at https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/21\/realtor-ethics-presidential-election\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Disclaimer<\/a>. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allegations of sabotage, fraud, and collusion.\u00a0 A yearning for power and money.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget about the sex, lies, and video tape.\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not referring to this year\u2019s presidential election \u2013 I\u2019m talking about Realtor ethics (although the similarities are intriguing).\u00a0 I\u2019ve reported in the past about real estate agents who\u2019ve engaged in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Realtor ethics and presidential election”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[303,497,370,13,141],"tags":[785,947,444,1055,797,786],"class_list":["post-2646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-code-of-ethics","category-election","category-ethics","category-real-estate","category-realtor-ethics","tag-code-of-ethics","tag-election","tag-ethics-2","tag-presidential-election","tag-real-estate","tag-realtor-ethics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VZLf-GG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5256,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions\/5256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}