Have you ever noticed that all you have to do to get less than ethical folks to show their ugly side is to talk about ethics or professional standards?

Over the last few months when one of us writes about ethics and professional standards we get a few off the wall people who will argue against them.  It is so insane.  A real estate agent or a loan officer being offended by the mere suggestion that we need higher standards or that a professional is someone who strives to conduct themselves at a much higher level than the basic minimum.

Reading comments from a real estate person (I was going to say professional) who was upset or offended that I would have the arrogance to suggest the being a professional means minimum requirements are not enough.  I wonder what their clients would think if they read the comments.

There have been several blog posts addressing the issue of dual services and why it was bad for the general public (acting as a real estate agent and loan officer or other service provider for the same client). Those seem to hit home with a few folks.  Boy did I get some hate messages from that topic. Yet Another Blog About the Agent With Too Many Hats?

Recently many of you read my post Real Estate Ethics in Nutshell and how I received a few negative comments and a series of e-mails from a real estate broker.  He felt all was fair in business and it was OK to take advantage of any loophole available to him.  In the end he deleted his worst messages that included negative remarks about religion.

There have been several blog posts about holding loan officers to the same standards as real estate agents.  King For a Day Series - Mortgage Industry  That topic caused me to really get hit with the hate messages.  Now look where the lending industry is today.  Do you think better regulation, a Code of Ethics, industry self-policing and better licensing laws may have helped?  I can tell you first hand that I and most top real estate agents I know avoid mortgage brokers and out of state lenders like the plague.  That might possibly have been a different story if their industry was better regulated and operated.

So what is the answer?  Do we only write nice fluffy posts about the flowers in our gardens or do we discuss what is important to consumers and to improving ourselves and out industry?  I for one prefer to work on the improvement of our industry and to share knowledge with each other and the public.

So if you are not a professional and offended by those discussions, you may not want to read some of my posts.  If on the other hand you enjoy sharing knowledge and having discussions on professional behavior, I hope that our blog system will continue to be a great forum for us to exchange information and knowledge.

Good Luck and Good Blogging!

Some related posts:

• Do We Need a Class on Class?
• Do You Speak Your Mind or Bite Your Lip?
• Are You Offended by The Golden Rule?
• Hold on Let Me Change My Hat - I am now your.....