presenting a
“TRUE PICTURE” Internet Advertising and
Compliance with the Code of Ethics by JENNIFER SHERROUSE
GAR has noted an increase in complaints alleging
member violations of Article 12 of the Code of Ethics. This article will describe a few situations that might be of interest to Georgia REALTORS
® who wish to learn
more about real estate advertising on the Internet and compliance with the Code. Article 12 primarily covers advertising issues. It states: “REALTORS shall be honest and truthful in their real
®
estate communications and shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing and other representations…”
Was a “tr ue picture” presented in the following examples? Example#1: Advertise property or offer for sale/lease, only with authority
REALTOR Anna promoted a client’s property listing ®
for sale on her company’s blog, Facebook, a YouTube video and a “virtual tour” website. After the property sold and closed, she didn’t update or remove those ads. Anna said if contacted by prospective buyers, she intended to be truth- ful about the sale, but she could help them find another. Anna advertised property for sale without authority. Standard of Practice 12-4 states that: “REALTORS shall
®
not offer for sale/lease or advertise property without authority.” See also,Case Interpretation 12-19: Remove Information About Listings from Websites Once Authority to Advertise
Ends.Anna’s advertisements didn’t present a true picture. How soon after closing should Anna have removed the
ads? The Code of Ethics isn’t clear. But for Anna, a sales- person licensed in the State ofGeorgia, it might be helpful to note that the Georgia Real Estate Commission’s “Ad- vertising” Rule (520-1-.09(5)) says: “Any licensee who ad- vertises any property for sale, rent, lease, or exchange on the Internet must remove such advertisement within ten days after the expiration of the listing”.
14IGEORGIA REALTOR®
Example#2: Advertise property or offer for sale/lease, only with authority
REALTOR Bill sought buyers who might hire him to ®
be their agent. Bill liked the North Hill neighborhood, so he copied other firms’ North Hill listings from the MLS IDX listing displays on his website and advertised those properties in a popular real estate website’s “For Sale” sec- tion. The ads included his contact information and stated that he was a “Buyer’s Agent for these homes”. Bill’s website included an integrated, MLS-rules-
compliant IDX (or “broker reciprocity”) listings data feed. A trainer showed Bill how to copy MLS IDX listing displays from his website to advertise the proper- ties on other websites. Bill wasn’t sure that copying other firms’ list- ings was the right thing to do, but the trainer convinced him it was okay because others did it and no one seemed to care. The IDX policy for Bill’sMLSwas based upon NAR
IDX Policy (see NAR Multiple Listing Policy State- ment 7.58): “The IDX policy gives MLS participants the ability to authorize limited electronic display of their list- ings by other participants …Electronic display subject to this policy means displays on participants’ public web- sites and displays using applications for mobile devices that participants control.” Other MLSs might have different policies but in
this example, Bill’s “limited” authority to display other participants’ listings didn’t include permis- sion to display other firms’ listings on third-party websites. Bill advertised properties for sale without authority. Standard of Practice 12-4 states that:“REALTORS shall
® NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2013
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