Sarasota Association of REALTORS - Who Does It Really Hurt??

The Sarasota Association of REALTORS fulfills my Prediction from Long Ago - MY Predictions of What is NEXT

Laurie Manny of Long Beach Real Estate made a comment on Inman news concerning the Sarjacking of Marc Rasmussen's site that brought back memories of a Featured Active Rain Post I wrote about long ago. 

(For the record, it was me she was referring to in that comment of the Inman News post concerning the Las Vegas REALTOR that lost their domain name. The only correction I need to make on that comment is that I did not put up a fight to keep the domain name in question. It was an obvious violation that I should have researched into a little more before just doing a clever domain name and investing a lot of time and money into it.)

I'm sure she was bringing up the Featured Active Rain Post I wrote about concerning the subject of the use of "MLS" back in March of 2007 when thoughts of banning the use of MLS in domain names began rearing it's ugly head.

In the post, it mentioned the loss of love the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS and National Association of REALTORS gave me when a website I owned was taken away from me for the improper use of "REALTOR" in the domain name and then picked up by Non REALTORS who turned it into a referral site.

What I thought was really Cruel was the demand that I could not even forward that domain name to the new one I ended up with and still have to this day. (Ironically, very similar to Laurie Manny's Long Beach Real Estate site. Just switch out the cities we service. Great minds think alike. ;).)

The thought of banning the use of "MLS" on websites and domain names owned by REALTORS first began circulating at this time and one of the largest Multiple Listing Services in the United States (hint -- it's in the same city as NAR headquarters) decided they were going to start fining REALTORS that used "Search the MLS" on their websites. I had a few choice thoughts on that and especially some questions on how they were going to enforce that rule against non REALTORS. 

ESPECIALLY since

MLS is trademarked by Major League Soccer

From that Post back in March of 2007:

"My issue and for anybody who belongs to an association:  We are paying dues to belong to an association that is supposed to look out for us!  If you pay for access to a MLS... then you should be able to advertise it.  I am a REALTOR.  I pay dues to the National Association of REALTORS, The Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS, and the Nevada Association of REALTORS.  I expect those dues to protect the trademark of the Association that I belong to and not fine members that pay into the Association unless they are in complete non-compliance of the use of the trademark.   If your only policy is to go after members of your own association and not violators of people who do not pay and contribute into the association, then why are we paying to belong to an association that only threatens it's members???????

Associations are great, don't get me wrong.  But if the association created by you with your funds is not looking after you.. then something is wrong.  If the only enforcement of rules can be used against it's members that make up the association... then something is wrong with the system.  

Members get penalized, but nothing happens to non-members?  You've got to be kidding me!  I am a member of one of the oldest fraternities in the United States.... perhaps my definition of an association is skewed by this but I think that if I pay money into something that exists due to my contributions..... then legal force should be in effect for non-paying members and not penalizing members. (Or at the least.. going after Non-Members first.)"

I still believe that Today.

Where we have been and where are we going in the online world of real estate?

Unless you are a REALTOR that is really clueless with what is going on with the online real estate world, by now you should have heard about the Sarjacking of a particular domain name that was owned by a Member of the Sarasota Association of REALTORS. A member of the Sarasota Association of REALTORS named Marc Rasmussen who purchased and invested a lot of soul into an incredible website that all REALTORS should look at and strive to provide such a great and simple localized real estate site to use. Zillow, Trulia and even Realtor.com have nothing on this site for great localized real estate. The Sarasota Association of REALTORS has nothing on this site and that could just be the problem.

Due to the Sarasota Association of REALTORS led by a President that may have a conflict of interest in this matter, I'm not even going to mention the domain name in question since the Sarasota Association of REALTORS has now taken over the domain name and has taken all of Marc's hard work and love and re-directed it to the Sarasota Association of REALTORS site.

Instead, I want you to look at Marc's incredible Sarasota Real Estate site. In case you've been too busy cold calling prospects, knocking on doors, spamming e-mail flyers, telling everybody you know that it's a great time to buy, writing your own PR newswires, spamming real estate forums, or just creating a bunch of internet noise to clog up the search rankings, take a look at this great blog post by Judy Orr who specializes in Cook County Real Estate that highlights all of the blogs from some serious real estate bloggers concerning the Sarasota Association of REALTORS hijacking a members domain name:

SARASOTA Association of REALTORS Begs REALTORS to let them Know who they work for.

I firmly believe that my dollars would be better off going to the Legal Fund for Marc Rasmussen that has been set up by Knox Richards then my REALTOR dues if it was not for the fact that I have to pay REALTOR dues for access to the Las Vegas MLS.

(Photo Courtesy of Knox Richards at Denver SEO Web Guy)

Unfortunately, despite the uproar on this thievary of a domain name that has been questioned by online real estate agents across the nation that are far savvier then anybody you will find at headquarters on Michigan Avenue, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) has been completely silent on this issue.

Which leads me to the concern I have from a meeting that I was in with the COO of a particular Luxury Real Estate franchise which is part of the most prominent Real Estate company in the world back in September of 2007.

"We don't want Individual Real Estate Agents having their own websites or blogs or advertising their own names. We want them promoting the Franchise and Company name."

Shortly afterwards, the Broker/Owner of that Luxury Real Estate firm I was affiliated with wanted complete control of all the leads being generated from my website which was firmly denied. My website was far ahead of theirs in the search engine rankings for the Luxury real estate market in question. Google Analytics showed me all of the visitors from New Jersey so it was no surprise when they realized there was no way they could take me out from the top of the search engine rankings for their terms that I was told that I would have to turn over control of the leads generated from the site or leave the company.

I left the company. Within 24 hours my website company can verify the letters of harrassment I received to remove their logos and names off of the website which was borderline psychotic.

With the silence of the NAR on the issue of the Sarasota Association of REALTORS concerning this very hot topic of stealing a domain name away from Marc Rasmussen, could other things be brewing on the horizon?

Do not underestimate the influence that Major players have on the National Association of REALTORS and the local Boards. And when their profits are down, they are looking for ways to get their profits back up. The work of the Sarasota Association of REALTORS and the silence of the National Association of REALTORS on this subject should be of grave concern to all individual REALTORS out there that understand why the NAR, the State Associations and the Local Associations are supposed to exist in the first place. To keep the playing field FAIR and Balanced for Big REALTORS and Small REALTORS alike.

The Associations exist because we PAY for them to exist and when a fellow individual member who has put an incredible amount of HEART and SOUL into a site is bullied around by an Association led by the owner of a rather larger Luxury Sarasota Real Estate Brokerage, questions need to be asked and ANSWERED.

Make no mistake that the internet is the Great Equalizer of the Real Estate Playing game. Savvy Real Estate agents know this and so do the crusty ones who are starting to catch on and applying retroactive rules to it's members.

Be Very Well Aware that the National Association of REALTORS has a job posting out there for somebody to monitor the internet. Much like Drew with Zillow and Rudy of Trulia always seem to pop up when their respective company names are mentioned on the internet.... the NAR may also soon have a Big Brother watching you to insure you have good things to say.

As Drew and Rudy will tell you, whenever I see an attempt to brainwash REALTORS, I'm right there along with several Real Estate Internet Savvy REALTORS to balance out the argument.

Unfortunately, this next Big Brother will have the power to pull your MLS access from you or steal your domain name if you don't follow along with their theme song.

Worse yet... they will steal your SOUL just like the Sarasota Association of REALTORS has attempted to steal Marc's and that's the last thing we need when it comes to Real Estate Websites.

I sincerely implore you to support Marc Rasmussen, a fellow REALTOR in this fight to remind all Associations that they exist because of us.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

UPDATED with Relevant Reading on the Topic:

Read Marc's Take on the Subject about The Sarasota MLS fiasco.

The Sarasota MLS - The Sarasota Association of REALTORS Hijacks a Members Website

Sarasota Association of REALTORS - The Real CyberSquat on Bloodhound Blog

Sarasota Association of REALTORS Slaps one of it's Own by Ryan Ward

Unite Against the Sarasota Association of REALTORS on WannaNetwork

Sarasota Association of REALTORS - Sarasota Real Estate is History and You may be Next by Joe Lane

Sarasota MLS Begs for Negative Publicity by Judy Orr --- LOTS and LOTS of Links to Plenty of Resources to view what Everybody is Saying about this ordeal.

Sarasota Association of REALTORS vs. REALTOR on News for Real Estate Agents -- Great Opinion on why this was done to begin with and Resources Provided on What you Can Do About It.

Sarasota Association of REALTORS takes Down REALTORS Sarasota Real Estate Website -- Cal Carter provides a great review and includes a list of Officers and contact information for The Sarasota Association of REALTORS. YIKES! 

Feel Free to Let me Know when You Add Your Take on the Subject!