Actually we do need to have ethical standards.  It would be nice if everyone could play by the rules.  But, not everyone plays nice in the sandbox.  If you look at surveys or statistic's on where real estate agents fall on the list of honest professionals we are just above lawyers and used car salesman.  I know we will never rank at the top, which is usually reserved for nurses, pharmacist, policeman and doctors.  If you look at the Gallup Poll of 2008 you will see that real estate agents are just above lawyers and union leaders.  After the year the bankers had in 2008, they ranked above real estate agents.  So what does that say about our profession?  That we may have an image problem and that we have some work to do.  I hope that the days of advertising that we are "million dollar producer" are behind us.  The public misunderstood that statement into thinking we made that much money.  The perception was all we thought about were the big bucks we were pulling in.  Not only do we need to make sure we are honest but what about other agents?  Do you look the other way when an agent has crossed the line?  When an agent is dishonest it make's the rest of us look bad.  It then makes our job tougher in letting the public know that they small minority does not represent all of us.  It is a dilemma that we face when dealing within the ranks of taking care of the bad apples.  Do you go to their Broker?  What if it is a Broker?  Do you go to the commission?  Me personally!  I am at the age where I speak my mind.  I got to the point; if you can't play fair I will let you know.  Actually I was like this in my younger days sitting in my criminal justice class during the mess with LAPD and Rodney King.  We were watching the tape of the officers beating King while he lay on the ground.  Up to a point I was okay with how they, the officers were handling it.  Then when I felt they had crossed the line but kept going I made the comment, "fire em all, starting with the Sergeant on the scene".  Boy, did that cause a very big discussion.  My point is, once something happens that draws negative attention it then takes twice as much work to overcome it.  Though there is more attention paid to law enforcement when they cross that ethical line than there is to real estate agents.  It is still something that we have to work doubly hard to get that negative image out of the public's eye. 

Always put the interest of the client first.  Use honesty and integrity when dealing with the wishes and desires of your client.  If the agent pulls there weight in doing this, then the work of overcoming negative obstacles will be few.  Energy used for helping customers/clients is better than wasting it on fixing problems others created.  For those that continually cannot play nice in the sandbox!  Play nice or find your own sandbox to play in.