I'm really p*ssed. I pay to advertise in this particular real estate mag and when I grabbed an issue the other day I noticed that some other agent tucked his flyer into the pages. I went back and checked, and they all had one.

What I want to know is can he do this?

Can he be penalized for this unethical behavior?

Where can I report him to?

Thanks for the help

It could be that the magazine offers flyer insertion as a service.

just contact the magazine and ask them this question. I'm sure they can answer it better then we can.

How can he do this? It may be pre-arranged with the publisher, or he may do it himself. If it is the publisher's call, there is nothing you can do since it is the publisher's product.

Is it unethical? If he did it himself, probably. But probably not unethical enough for him to get in trouble. It will just elevate him to jackass level.

Where can you report him? Nowhere. There is no law that says you can open up free magazines and put stuff in there. Although tacky and unprofessional, it fails by miles to get into the arena of illegal activity.

I'd say it isn't unethical, did you check to see if he advertised too? I'd say this agent is pretty darned motivated. He is targeting people who pick up a free magazine and advertising his own listing for sale.

Sounds like a good idea to me. People paste flyers all over cars and things like that, I'd rather see it there than on my car.

Why would you guys assume this is not illegal? I bet it is, although not likely to be prosecuted.

Jason please tell us what laws have been broken?
This is definately tacky but not illegal. If on private property the property owner could ask that the agent in question never return to his property but this is not likely as the property owner could probably care less! If it is the local homes guide magazine/book and the agent in question is a member of the local board he could possibly be disiplined by the board.

Obviously I'm neither a lawyer nor in law enforcement but some possibilities might be criminal trespass, littering, theft of service, maybe even fraud.

The thing is usually right about the 'free magazines' in grocery stores and things like that there is usually a bulletin board for flyers and cards, I guess I don't see the difference.

If I advertise in a magazine and spend $400 per page, you had better bet I'll stick my business card in there, never thought about flyers though.

You would have to check the entire magazine to see if he advertised first, then if you still have beef, call the agent directly. I think if you feel something is unethical, you have a duty to let the agent know what he/she is doing wrong and why.

Advertising on the publication doesn't give someone the right to insert cards or flyers unless authorized by the publisher and premises merchant.

There is no "duty" to tell the offending agent before turning them in, either.

The premise merchant could care less if some agent adds flyers to a free publication. If they get complaints they are more likely to tell the publisher to remove the free magazine stand as it is causing problems.

Our office use to get stacks of the homes guides delivered. I use to take about 30 each week attach my card and a small sticker that said "Courtesy of Your local Realtor Paul Oaks" to the bottom 3rd of the guide. These I would distribute to my doctors office, Dentist, Chiropractor, Hair Stylist and anyone else I had a professional relationship with and leave them a couple of copies of the guides for their waiting areas and it mattered not if I had a current ad in the guide. I got many clients over the years by delivering those guides.

This is strictly a private civil issue between the agent and the publisher of the guide.

All of this arguments about something that people don't even have facts on.

Was this permitted? Did he pay the magazine to have it inserted? The only party effected here is the magazine publisher. Assuming the person inserted the material on his own the magazine can claim that he should've paid for it. Wizard, sorry but you have no case. Your advertisement agreement in the magazine is not exclusive or so I assumed.

Care to wager?

Sure do as there is nothing criminal in what was done!

I called and was told that this person did not have permission to put flyers in the magazine. The person I spoke to said he would look into it, but it sounded like he just wanted to get rid of me.

You had better believe that if I had paid $400 per page for advertising and another agent was trying to use this for free, I would certainly have a problem with it. It is the same as stealing, and I bet the publisher would agree.

This is a tough subject. I still see it as more of an issue of ethics then anything else. I doubt any action can be brought against it, but i would honestly try. If i payed $400 & he was advertising for free i would be mad. The thing is he had to do every magazine by hand when you got 1,000's of copys sent out with no more work then pulling out your credit card.

The magazine pretty much gave you the answer that they don't care by trying to get rid of you on the phone. They got there money from everyone else who advertised so they probably could care less.

So Paul,

Is it o.k. also to print up a flyer and staple it to the magazine that makes it's money off selling the ads? I think that absolutely it's illegal -- specifically theft of service as the only way that the magazine stays in business is by selling it's ad space.

Additionally, just because it's free doesn't entitle you to essentially steal it's product by placing your own advertisement in it for free. It wouldn't matter if you advertised anywhere else in the book and paid $400 for it. You got what you paid for with regards to the ad printed and placed in the book. You didn't get the right to plaster printed books with additional information for free. Just my thoughts.

The agent is not suppose to be putting flyers in the home's magazine. You need to take the matter up with your local board of Realtor.

Unfortunately your opinion has no basis in law. Once those homes guides hit the street the are free for the taking or defacing or to line your birdcage or paper train that new puppy. The only person with any standing would be the owner on whose property they are placed and possibly the publisher as most of the homes guides are put out by your local association.

I did not comment on its moral or ethical rightness, only the legal position. The Board could possibly sanction the agent if he is a member of the board but it is definately not a crime.