Good Afternoon to All,

Normally I do not take the time to respond or leave comments regarding posts but since I am the topic of discussion this Sunday morning I felt it only right that I defend myself rather than leave the pundits rumbling.

For those of you who are not informed, my blogs and its content sponsored by many of my close friends who are writers, reporters, agents, etc., aims to provide the most recent industry news, trends and helpful tips to help educate customers and the general public about the home buying process and home ownership enabling them to become a better informed homeowner.

Plagiarized?  I find it hard for any of you to believe I could get away with plagiarizing an article http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=221337  that was written by Mary Wozniak of the Fort Myers Press in August and distributed to over 50,000 Florida Realtors in our Early Bird news emails or articles written by any associates of mine. And if you must know I clicked while posting the article "This is not my content but I have permission to repost it".

As well I find it even more ridiculous that you would even take the time to leave such comments about something so trivial.  Your actions are a very good example of why real estate agents have a bad name among home buyers and sellers.  And as I stated to Jon Zolsky earlier if we can't use the benefit of our local and national membership, our blogs and post to work together in our profession why would anyone want to work with us?

However, if I offended anyone from the post of the article linked above or any article outside of my own that I have posted in the past or may post in the future please accept my apology.  The intention never lies in taking someone else's material as my own.

My business is selling real estate and educating customers.  I'm not concerned with accumulating points or gaining notoriety on either Active Rain or any other website.  For anyone to question my business acumen and level of ethical service is absurd on their part.  My customer list reads from a who's who of names with intact relationships and their willingness to give a reference at anytime.

In closing, this will be my last time responding to any of your comments. I advise Realtors who wish to leave comments to be mindful of what you say.  If I run across another comment on any website that defames my business, my name or any one on my team members in accordance with the 2008 Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of Realtors I will file an ethics complaint against you.  Please read Article 15 below:    

Duties to REALTORS^®

Article 15
REALTORS^® shall not knowingly or recklessly make false or misleading statements about competitors, their businesses, or their business practices. (Amended 1/92)

 Standard of Practice 15-2

The obligation to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors' businesses and competitors' business practices includes the duty to not knowingly or recklessly repeat, retransmit, or republish false or misleading statements made by others. This duty applies whether false or misleading statements are repeated in person, in writing, by technological means (e.g., the Internet), or by any other means. (Adopted 1/07)