Stop Poaching My Buyers - A Series on the NAR Code of Ethics (Part Eight)

Don't forget 16-9,16-14 and 16-16 . These are articles that EVERY practioner should clearly know !!!

These are must knows and practices and always welcomed for discussion. These rules work when you work them. thank you

Have enjoyed this series! Thanks for the hard work!

Great series Cal..I am going to have to go back and read all of them :)!  Although it is not an ethical violation, one may think it's untasteful...but oh well.  If Jim hadn't had the discussion with the seller first, he just lost out.  

Most of all, I think agents tend to get too worked up with a holy-than-thou attitude, which often is a compensating factor for lack of performance. I'd like to say, hey, put your nose to the grindstone, go back to work and stop whining about who is stealing whose client. People can't be "stolen" anyway.

Cal -- I have just bookmarked this to read when I have more time. Thanks for breaking this down. I am (somewhat)in this position now. With a divorcing couple, the wife wanted me to list their house and he wanted his friend. Well, the husband won out.  The wife had originally contacted me for help in finding a new place to live. So she stays in contact with me and is waiting for the house to be sold so she can work with me to find a new home.  I, however, would not have solicited her even though the CoE says I can.

Cal:

You are doing a great service to agents by discussing the Code of Ethics and each part of it.  When we take the annual ethics class we familiarize ourselves with the Code, then we forget it.  We need to know it inside and out and its interpretations.

Hi Cal,  I always enjoy this kind of ethics review.  Sort of like a mini refresher class for license renewal !   Have a terrific Easter !

Cal - I think this is good information to review, and it makes sense though people may not like it.

Cal:

As in many things that go on in real estate, one needs to be sure to dot the I's and cross the T's, or be "sorry". Agent Jane, really was thinking, about being a good CEO of her business.

True pros do not have the problem of others poaching their clients. Clients and potential clients know immediately that they want and need you. Clients recognize that going elsewhere would be considered a risk to them and a downgrade of service.

I have clients call me wanting to dump their Realtor and hire me. I proceed with extreme caution and have them sign a form that (1) I did not solicit them, (2) they contacted me, (3) that I did not encourage them to cancel their existing listing with their current Realtor.

Cal, important details to know before jumping to conclusions accusing an agent of poaching, a very serious crime in our business. lol

That's an interesting scenario..and in a lab setting, a great one for conversation. But in reality, it would be a true slap in the face for the listing agent, and while not an ethical violation (as you show), certainly makes for an ackward situation. 

I've only recently learned that I can approach a seller who has their house on the market with another agent about being their buyers agent. I used to think a client was a client.

This is an interesting question, and one I really hadn't thought about one way or the other.  It is good to have this information so we all know what is ok and what is prohibited

Cal, I was going to say something similar to what Karen said. Ethical or not, don't think for a minute that the listing agent is going to be happy with an agent who does this, and word will get around to other agents. I think they would think that it was 'poaching' whether it was ethically or not.

Sharon

I think the code of ethics is totally wrong. It tries to extend relationships beyond what the client intended, and is unaware of, and agents use this supposed ethics code in an attempt restrict competition for their benefit not the clients benefit.

Some of our code of ethics needs to be disclosed to the client and authorized by them, or rewritten, but that isn't going to happen. Our failure to inform our clients of certain facts and the effects it has on them is a ethics violation based on common sense and they are intended to give rights to listing agents they are not entitled to without their clients permission and knowledge.