Don't Ruin a Reputation in 20 Minutes That Takes 20 Years to Build
Years ago, David Howell, executive vice president of McEnearney Associates in McLean and current member of the NVAR Professional Standards Committee, was serving on NVAR’s Grievance Committee when an agent admitted to forging a signature to release a client’s earnest money deposit because “it was taking too long.” That’s a rare situation. Far more often, the Grievance Committee listens to disputes that involve a simple lack of communication by agents.
Returning phone calls, showing up when you say you will and being generally polite are lessons our parents taught most of us. But when people get frazzled or lose focus, sometimes those lessons are forgotten. For many Realtors®, basic courtesy could prevent some of the most common complaints from the public and from other agents.
Nicholas Lagos, associate broker with Century 21 New Millennium in Arlington and NVAR Secretary- Treasurer, notes that, thankfully, offenders in the industry are in the minority. “Realtors®, especially in Northern Virginia, are more professional than ever,” says Lagos. “I’m very optimistic, but of course we also have to stay vigilant.”
Education about the Code of Ethics and the SentriLock Lockbox System rules go a long way to help Realtors® uphold professional standards. In addition, NVAR has an ombudsman program of member volunteers to help Realtors® work out disputes before they reach the level of a formal complaint.
A hallmark of professionals, says Matthew Troiani, vice president of professional development and deputy general counsel for NVAR, is that they are self-policing and keep an eye on each other to uphold the reputation of the entire industry.
“Unlike almost any other industry, Realtors® are intense competitors who cooperate on a daily basis,” says Howell.
The collaborative nature of real estate transactions extends to [Realtors®’] interactions with NVAR, says Troiani. He describes it as a “two-way street” with members providing leadership rather than the association dictating to members.
“People make mistakes,” says Stevie Fisher, professional standards manager of NVAR. “Sometimes they just didn’t know they were making a mistake, and hopefully they learn from their mistakes. We’re not focused on punishment; we’re focused on educating members,” she says.
COURTESY AND PROFESSIONALISM
Real estate is a relationship business, and agents need to cultivate their relationships with other agents as well as with their clients, says Lagos. Courtesy is the foundation of building better relationships.
“Something as simple as returning phone calls matters,” says Lagos. “Treat others the way you want to be treated, including buyers, sellers and other agents. Recognize that if you’re adversarial, you could be hurting your client and your future clients because other agents won’t want to work with you,” he explains.
Going an extra step to help other agents can be beneficial to your clients, says Lagos. “I’ve had other agents call me when they saw a minor leak in one of my listings and when the door was left unlocked,” he says. “I’ve had agents let me know when there’s incorrect information in a listing, too. I remember the agents who take the time to help others.”
A phone call to let an agent or homeowner know you’re running late or to provide feedback on a listing helps everyone.
“I was working with sellers who had young kids, and it was in the listing and on ShowingTime that evening showings were restricted because they needed to put the kids to bed,” says Ritu Desai, an associate broker with Samson Properties in Chantilly. “A buyer’s agent made an appointment to come between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., so the homeowners left and came back at 5 p.m. for dinner and bedtime. The buyers showed up at 6 p.m., and the homeowners said they couldn’t come in, so the buyer’s agent was furiously upset and called me to yell about how terribly uncooperative the sellers were. But a simple phone call to let them know they were running late or even just hitting that option on ShowingTime would have avoided the situation.”
Agents know what sellers go through to sell their home, especially needing to leave when buyers are there, so it’s just rude to not let someone know if you’re late or won’t be coming to the house, says Howell.
“We all know these things happen – that you get stuck in traffic or that the clients don’t want to get out of the car,” says Howell. “You just have to let the sellers know. Besides, you could end up showing that house to other buyers, and then the sellers won’t want to negotiate with you because you’ve been rude,” he adds.
While text and email work well, in many circumstances a phone call can be better to help people understand the context and tone of a message, says Howell.
“Your cell phone is also a phone,” says Troiani. “Sometimes you can work things out more easily with a phone call; then follow up with an email to get it in writing.”
Courteous agents read and follow listing instructions and are respectful of homeowners, says Desai. “I recently put a sign on the front door asking people to remove their shoes because of the rain,” says Desai. “One person ignored this and left muddy footprints all over the hardwood floor and the carpet. It hurts the reputation of the entire industry when someone is disrespectful of someone else’s property.”
HALLMARKS OF PROFESSIONALISM
Professionals seek out information and education, says Troiani.
Information about the Code of Ethics and professional standards can be found on NVAR’s website at NVAR.com/ professionalism. In addition, members can access the Legal Hotline through the NVAR site if they have a question, concern or potential complaint. An NVAR attorney will review the issue and call the member to discuss it.
"If you don't want to call an agent or broker directly, or that path doesn't lead to a satisfactory resolution of an issue, you can contact the NVAR Professional Standards department to have an appropriate volunteer ombudsman assigned."
“Not every instance of unprofessional conduct rises to the level of a Code of Ethics violation,” says Troiani. “In many instances, it is totally acceptable to pick up the phone and call another agent if you see that they’re doing something that isn’t right. Sometimes an apology and ‘I’ll not do it again’ can be sufficient to resolve the dispute.”
Agents can also ask their broker to make a call, or they can call another agent’s broker if they want to avoid a direct conversation.
“It’s also important not to burn bridges needlessly in this marketplace,” says Troiani. “You’re likely to run into the same agent again, so it’s best to keep your focus professional and be mindful to avoid personal attacks on other agents.”
If you don’t want to call an agent or broker directly, or that path doesn’t lead to a satisfactory resolution of an issue, you can contact the NVAR Professional Standards department to have an appropriate volunteer ombudsman assigned, reminds Fisher.
“We have eight volunteers who have been trained to try to resolve potential complaints,” says Fisher. “The ombudsman will contact the involved parties to see if the situation can be resolved without reaching the level of a complaint.”
Fisher says the ombudsman process is very successful, especially involving disputes where communication has broken down. A complaint can still be made if the situation isn’t resolved through the ombudsman process.
SENTRILOCK VIOLATIONS
Among the most frequent complaints is unauthorized entry into a home that’s on the market, says Fisher.
“Unauthorized access and unauthorized use of a lockbox is a violation of SentriLock rules and the Code of Ethics and could potentially trigger other complaints, even if it’s not done for a malicious reason,” says Fisher.
For example, agents may face a citation for unauthorized access to a property that could cost $500 for the Code of Ethics violation, plus $500 for the SentriLock violation and $150 for an administrative fee, for a total of $1,150.
“Realtors® have a superpower – the SentriLock system – that lets them go into other people’s homes,” says Troiani. “But with that superpower comes great responsibility to be cautious and pay attention to detail before opening someone’s door.”
Ignoring instructions on the listing, assuming a house is vacant and not calling ahead are common complaints related to SentriLock.
“I had photos of a vacant house on my listing but clearly had in the public and internal remarks that they were old photos and a tenant was in the house,” says Desai. “An agent didn’t read the remarks and didn’t schedule an appointment, and when he opened the door the tenant’s dogs charged him and his clients. Luckily no one was hurt, but this was unprofessional of the agent and could have been dangerous,” she warns.
Even when a home is under contract, Lagos says, agents still need permission from the listing agent and the homeowners to go into the property for a home inspection and walk-through.
“SentriLock violations involve safety issues as well as the public perception and trust of Realtors®,” says Troiani. “They can even rise to a potential criminal case because [entering a home without permission] might be considered trespassing.”
COMMON CODE OF ETHICS VIOLATIONS
Many complaints related to the Code of Ethics are similar, says Fisher, and involve general issues of honesty.
“We get a lot of questions about what clients and agents have to disclose,” says Troiani. “In Virginia, sellers have minimal disclosure obligations, but agents have higher disclosure requirements. If you have actual knowledge of a material fact about a property – something the homeowner, a home inspector or a contractor tells you – you have to disclose it if the disclosure of this information would influence the decision of a reasonable buyer to purchase the property or purchase at the list price.”
In addition, Fisher says, several complaints have been made about disclosing your brokerage in all advertising. Many agents neglect to specify the state where they’re licensed in online advertisements or communications, which is required by the Code of Ethics.
“At least half of the hearings about Code of Ethics violations could have been avoided with common courtesy,” says Howell. “We all make mistakes. The best thing to do is to acknowledge them and apologize as quickly as possible.”
CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLATIONS PROCESS
While ideally conflicts and violations can be resolved directly between agents and brokers or through the ombudsman program, the next step (or a first step if the violation involves legal issues, complex issues or uncooperative parties) is to file an ethics complaint online with NVAR.
“After we get a complaint, we send a copy to the respondent and schedule a Grievance Committee discussion, although sometimes it gets resolved before it goes to the Grievance Committee,” says Fisher. “The Grievance Committee can dismiss the complaint or send it to a Professional Standards hearing panel. For certain specific violations, we also have a citation system similar to a speeding ticket, so a member can pay the citation rather than have a hearing. Members can also request a hearing instead of paying the citation.”
In 2018, as of Sept. 25, there were 102 complaints made to NVAR – 31 of which were forwarded to a Professional Standards hearing by the Grievance Committee. Forty complaints resulted in a citation by the Grievance Committee and 17 were dismissed, according to Fisher.
“The system is set up for maximum checks and balances,” says Fisher. “The Association’s role is to ensure due process for all members.”
Decisions by the Grievance Committee and the Professional Standards hearing panel can be appealed to a tribunal of the NVAR Board of Directors, says Fisher, but this rarely happens.
“The Professional Standards hearings are educational, and the hope is that everyone leaves knowing more about the Code of Ethics,” says Howell. “At several hearings, an agent said at the beginning of the hearing that they had made a mistake and apologized, which was helpful to the whole process,” he recalls.
Many times, people who have been part of a Professional Standards hearing decide to volunteer for the Grievance or Professional Standards Committees because they recognize that the group is working to teach best practices among Realtors®, says Fisher.
Of course, one of the worst consequences of behaving unprofessionally is losing your reputation as a good agent.
“It takes 20 years to build your reputation, but you can lose your good reputation with customers and other agents in 20 minutes if you’re not honest,” says Lagos.
Courtesy, professionalism, honesty and apologizing for mistakes can build your reputation and keep it intact. Code of Ethics compliance and being considerate will help sustain each Realtor’s® respectability.
NVAR RESOURCES FOR PROFESSIONALISM AND COMPLAINTS
LEGAL HOTLINE:
NVAR.com/legalhotline
CODE OF ETHICS, BYLAWS AND LOCKBOX RESOURCES:
NVAR.com/realtorrules
CODE OF ETHICS:
NVAR.com/code18
HANDLE COMPLAINTS:
NVAR.com/professionalism
OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM:
NVAR.com/ombudsman