I think there has been an assumption that all Realtor board owned ML Systems require you to be a Realtor while those that are not Realtor board owned do not. One of my ML Services is broker (not board) owned but it still requires you to be a Realtor to participate.

If you work for a member broker, you have to belong.
My daughter is a REALTOR broker in Denver at KW, and ex RE/MAX agent.

LOCALLY: It means you had better be in compliance or suffer the consequences, in what is reputed to be some of the most stringent regulations in North America

When the legislature brought in the then new Real Estate and Business Brokers Act 2002 they incorporated the entire Code of Ethics as "Regulations" under the (“Act”) giving them the force of law, together with the completion of ongoing mandatory education courses and error & omission insurance coverage for the protection of the consumer in order to obtain or to renew a real estate licence.

Further, the (“Act”) adheres to the legal precedents established by the courts under the common law of agency. The Regulators with a staff of investigators, investigate, lay charges and prosecute offenders for violation of the “Regulations”.

The accused can then plea bargain his case or proceed to trial via an Administration tribunal with penalties of up to $50,000 for the individual offender and up to $250,000 for the brokerage firm.

If found guilty of an offence the offender can be held liable for the minimum daily tribunal costs of $800. per day or part thereof and additional costs in the event of an appeal is filed together with the related filing fees and transcripts costs running in the range of $1200. to $2,000. plus the offenders corresponding legal (lawyer) fees, all of which is excluded from the E & O insurance.

In addition, the offender may be subsequently charged with violations of the Provincial Offences Act (misdemeanours) and/or the Criminal Code (Penal Code) for various other offences and may also be sued civilly for damages.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .

I am a Realtor and the ONLY reason I am a Realtor is access to the MLS. I personally find it offensive that some peopel thing Realtors are moe ethical than non Realtor Agents and Brokers. The problem that I see with the phrase "Realtors subscribe to a higher code of ethics" is that I see Realtors everyday doing things ranging from questionably moral to questionably legal. If I wasn't in Real Estate I think it would be a fun job to work for the Real Estate Commisioner as ann investigator, taking licenses away from Licensees who clearly don't care about morality or legality. As I see it ethical and legal violations by Realtors fall into two primarty categories. (1) Greed and (2) Ignorance. Greed is self explanatory everyone who has been in Real Estate for a significant amount of time has seen it. One of the most visible examples would be listing agents trying to corner both sides of a transaction to the point they will ignore offers from other Buyer Agents. When it comes to ignorance especially for agents who have been in Real Estate for 3 years or more, I find that is just as offensive as Fraud for Greed. We all have responsibilities ot our Clients, to our Brokers and to the State in which we conduct business. If you are not making a concerted effort to know all of your responsibilites under both the Realtor Code of Ethics and the State Law, you should give up your license and save the Commissioner the hassle of taking it away from you. I am amazed at the amount of career Realtors who claim to not know that something as simple as a Buyer claiming primary residence when applying for a new home loan, the Realtor and the Buyer are making plans to rent it out as soon as it closes, is Mortgage Fraud. Subscribing to a higher code of ethics in my opinion means being open to questioning every new scenario we haven't encountered before, asking for peer advise, asking for Broker insight, checking with the Commisioner's office, reading State Statutes, subscribing to self help forums such as this one.

Yes. Greed and ignorance. What's worse than a greedy agent is a greedy broker. Greedy brokers don't hold their agents accountable just so long as they are not caught. More agents means more money and that's the greedy brokers primary concern.

It's tiring really, to see all of the cheating that goes on. If I limited myself to only those who I thought upheld the highest moral and ethical standards, I'd be out of business very fast. So what can be done? Just come here and gripe on some Internet site? Folks aren't going to police themselves. I think there should be an anonymous hotline to turn in unscrupulous Realtors. Without punishment, bad behavior will never be curbed.

Ethics: a general idea or belief that influences people's behavior and attitudes; moral rules or principles of behavior for deciding what is right and wrong...

I assume some people don't know what ethics is. Well, I think they should, to gain respect.

Realtor.
I believe there is 1 moral code. No one knows for certain what it is, but it is very basic and it is pure good. If I were pressed to name it, I might answer, The Golden Rule...treat others as you would be treated. But I think true morality is more pure than that. Even the Golden Rule is based on how I want to be treated. I am not pure, and therfore the golden rule is the first example of ethics.
What is more basic than the golden rule?
Moral good is the gold. Ethics is the rule. To answer the question, 'What is moral?' might be treat others really well, which is kind of like, 'Love thy neighbor.'

There are many layers of ethics, which are rules set to an idea of the moral code. Most stem from the law. The COE is just an attempt to have Realtors 'love thy neighbor' as they practice real estate (and use the MLS)

Would you feel comfortable having your actions displayed in the local newspaper. Thats ethical decision making

Never dismiss the checks NAR sends to Congress and local governments to help NAR associated MLS services maintain their monopolies. Their claim to an ethical high ground exist more in print than reality.