Over promise and hope it happens - a question of ethics

Don - I used to believe karma always worked. The truth is it doesn't. At least not in this life. There are people who go through life dancing on that thin line.

Susan - do you think the definition is really different for them or are they just pushing it to the limit?

Bryant - I hear ya. What about REALTORS(R) who tell their clients there are multiple offers on a property when in fact the current offer will be the second? Or those who tell the loan officer there are families living in motels/out of moving trucks when nothing is true about that?

Clark - to the point.

Lenn - is there a difference between saying "we are the best thing since sliced bread" and implying "we are the only ones that are the best thing since sliced bread"?

Bob - all three rings I believe.

Jeff - but what about disclaimers? I know I can close a loan the same way the "no brainer" guy can. I also know we close almost every completed loan within about 2 days - once we have all the stips cleared. Why can't I say "48 hour loan closings guaranteed" then disclaim it to say once all the stips have been cleared and the package is in the hands of the underwriter?

Renee - it does affect everyone in the industry, doesn't it?

Gomillions - what if it's the truth just painted in a way to effect the appearance of reality?

Richard - innocent people drown in water, too.

Frank - my brother.

Joseph - I don't want those phone calls (lawsuits) even alleging misrepresentation.

Terri - how hard is that, eh?

L&L Kratz - what is a "Certified Negotiation Expert". Sorry, just never seen that before.

Vickie - doesn't frustrate me :) I'd rather do no business at all that do business I gained by misleading people. And, unfortunately, people who do quite often win all the way through life and leave a trail of disappointment behind them as they ramble through life.

Chris - I like that.

Lane - that's certainly where Countrywide crossed the line back in 06 and 07 by actually saying, not just implying, they could do things no other lender could do. (What they should have said was "Countrywide, we do things no one else should do".)

Jason - Cynical is a nice boat to sale around on. I've been on that ship for many years.

Gary - as you may have presumed your back and forth on that Facebook page is what inspired this post.

Katerina - agreed all the way around. We do try and keep our own industries responsible. When the "ethics offender" is confronted you can always tell they know they are in the wrong because they will either make a joke about it or lash out. It's the customer, the ones who keep us doing what we do, who is deceived in the end.

iTexas - there are people who don't get it that way. They think if they did it once they can say that's what they do.

Ruthmarie - and that serves your community well.

Sue - as an old song says of [customers] just looking for the truth, "We're so easily led astray".

Tony - exactly. Most direct lenders and even a few brokers are closing within that time frame from the date the full package with all stips addressed is received. It's no major feat at all. So is it a violation to present it in a manner that implies (or directly states) being able to do so is unique to one or a few companies?

Mark - should be the same for everyone. Like buying homes, though, people only finance once every few years and lenders, like agents, realize this. So if you tick someone off a little but don't violate any laws, who cares, right? They won't be back for 5 to 7 years anyway. (I actually heard someone say that a few years ago.)

Claudette - I love your last sentence. It is true, if you're truly good other people will spread that news for you.

Tim - Advertising 101: Play to your strengths and/or your competitor's weakness. As you have stated this is not unethical. Where it crosses the line is to actually say you are the only person (and maybe even to say you are one of only a few) who can do these ordinary things. Countrywide was the most blatant when they actually claimed to be the only ones. The racket and rip-off guy never says he's the only one but he does call virtually every other mortgage broker a racket and rip-off. That's just low life sleaze. Not illegal. These "ten day guarantee" (and I know and respect them by the way) only come close to saying they are among a select few - when that isn't actually true and they provide no evidence of it. If they asked me if I thought they should word it the way they do I would tell them to lose the statements indicating they may be special because of it. Just saying they can do ten day closings and guarantee them is good enough. But they didn't ask.

Markita - that new NMLS licensing will definitely make a difference. But there will be those who still shoot for the gutter.

Joe - you make a good point. If someone is deceitful enough to walk that close to a lie or actually lie in an ad what makes us think they are going to have our best interest at heart when we hire them?

Melissa - the activity is in response to a link titled "Do You Need a Trophy Case For Your Meaningless Accolades?" on the Facebook page I gave the link to above not on the Agent Genius site directly.

Jenna - it has been said you'll get more truth by ignoring the big print and going straight to the small print.

Nevin - agreed. I think what started this (from that post on Facebook) is a result of good marketing. Like I said in one of the comments I would have advised the guy who wrote it (and I do know him and respect him) that he was dancing toward that line of misrepresentation. The others mentioned, however, crossed that line and simply lie or lied.

Brian - even if they don't "get caught" in the major legal sense we know intelligent shoppers get it.

XPosure - I think many of us agree with that. By the way, placing a link inside a comment on blogs is considered, by most, to be unwelcomed. Your signature should be your only link.

Bill - we are all judged by what others do. That's one reason why there are so many laws "to protect the ignorant from the unscrupulous".

Erica - that was addressed a few times in the comments. We actually talked about ads that actually claim to be able to offer something others cannot offer. And we talked about advertising 101 - so I do agree with you.

Karen - it's what makes them so easily mislead.

Erica - you should market your strengths - honestly and with the highest integrity. Not doing so is not marketing well. In fact there is a trend to attack people for being experts. I don't like that trend. In fact I haven't spent thousands of dollars on education, thousands of hours working with clients and closing in excess of 3,500 loans to not be able to be considered an expert. What we are discussing here is people who claim, or make it appear as so, they are the only one or a member of an elite group which does not exist.

Try this: There's a huge development of over 500 homes. Because it is so large the builder chooses 3 lenders to finance the homes. Each of them receives the title "Gus's Crossing Preferred Lender". Two weeks later one of the lenders hears from an agent they will have to take their customer to another one of the lenders because the flier picked up by the customer which plainly reads, "THE PREFERRED LENDER FOR GUS'S CROSSING" and just below says, "Seller contribution of 6% only when the mortgage is financed by the preferred lender of Gus's Crossing".

The discussion is not about the lender who would say "A PREFERRED LENDER" but about the one who says "THE PREFERRED LENDER". This could also apply to the hundreds of agents who can say "ATLANTA'S NUMBER ONE AGENT". And that's where the Agent Genius post and link on Facebook lead to this discussion.