When I put out these informational posts, I usually do so with the notice that here at All City Real Estate we believe in sharing information and knowledge with every agent. And that that information and knowledge crosses over broker boundaries so that we’re all the best agents we can be. That we’re all the fiduciary for our clients at the highest possible level.
This post is an informational post in that same vein, but what we’re going to talk about today is exactly how to maintain that high level of professionalism within our industry.
So what we’re going to talk about today is the structure of where a consumer might go to file a complaint against a real estate agent, where an agent might go to file a complaint against another agent, and the differences in what might occur when those reportings take place.
Let’s take our first example. A consumer who has a complaint against a licensed Texas real estate agent is going to go through the Texas Real Estate Commission.
There is a complaint process, that is very structured, that a consumer can go to TREC and say, “Hey, Susie Smith did wrong. She did a violation, and that violation was X, Y, and Z.” The Texas Real Estate Commission will then vet that complaint. They will talk to all of the parties involved, get official statements from the agent against whom the complaint was made, that agent’s broker, and then all of the information will be reviewed, and a decision will be made as to whether or not a violation of the TREC rules took place.
So remember, the Texas Real Estate Commission governs the rules and laws of being a licensed Texas real estate agent. That is different and separate from TAR, the Texas Association of Realtors, which remember, you can be a licensed Texas real estate agent and not necessarily be a member of the Texas Association of Realtors. And therefore by default, you would also not be a member of the National Association of Realtors. You wouldn’t be a realtor at all, unless you were a member at the highest level of NAR down to our state level, TAR, and then the local board level below that.
So an agent-to-agent complaint is going to be handled by the Texas Association of Realtors, and there are two basic types of complaints that may be filed with TAR on agent-to-agent complaints.
One of those is arbitration regarding commission disputes. The other is cases involving potential ethics violations.
So, what we need to do in our industry is make sure that as agents, as realtors, we are policing our industry.
I just got done being a guest on a panel at the Austin Board of Realtors, where I sit on the board of directors. The discussion turned towards professional standards and ethics. Upholding our code of ethics for the Texas Association of Realtors, the National Association of Realtors, and it is incumbent upon agents, like you, and like me. And like all of our colleagues out there, to police ourselves, to make sure that if we see an agent who’s doing something questionable, in terms of our code of ethics, we must … It is our duty to report them so that we can be the agents at the highest level so that we can maintain a standard of professionalism in our industry that will hopefully engender trust amongst consumers to a greater degree than what we have now.
