If you're one of those people --- like Superman --- who likes to fight for justice, doesn't mind giving up making a living for months on end, and has $500 to put on the line, you might enjoy the process called filing an ethics complaint. I'm assuming the $500 "deposit" is to discourage agents from filing frivilous complaints, but it also discourages people who have serious complaints, but are concerned about losing that much money. In addition, the paperwork you will be given to fill out, in addition to the narrative you're expected to write, AND the nine copies you'll be asked to submit, make this an undertaking of mammoth proportions.
I listen to my colleagues continue to complain about one agent or another who has solicited their listing while it's still in force, or an agent who took a buyer aside and told her he'd get her a better deal if she "ditched your agent, and work wth me." Really, no joke.
The truth of the matter is that when we complain about all the disreputabl Realtors we know, we can look in the mirror an point the finger of blame at ourselves. I am not for a moment saying it's either pleasant or easy, but if you want to rid our industry of the worst agents, don't expect that to happen unless you are willing to take on a job no one else wants.
It took months for me to confront a Realtor who had stalked and harrassed me for over two years, and finally got a straight shot at me when he wrote a contract on one of my listings. In order not to make a long story endless, I'll just say that in his ardor to "get me," he managed to violate several Standards of Practice, and I was determined to see him in front of the Ethics Committee. He was found in violation of three of the SoP, but at the end of the day he was only fined $500, and had to take an Ethics course. He laughed. I walked away feeling like somone had spit on me, but glad I didn't let it go.
There has to be a way to make the process less endless and exhausting, but they apparently haven't yet found it.
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