Code of Ethics-Duties to Clients and Customers: Article 6
Posted in REALTORS Code of Ethics by Karen Rhodes on December 28th, 2006 · Article 6
REALTORS® shall not accept any commission, rebate, or profit on expenditures made for their client, without the client’s knowledge and consent.
When recommending real estate products or services (e.g., homeowner’s insurance, warranty programs, mortgage financing, title insurance, etc.), REALTORS® shall disclose to the client or customer to whom the recommendation is made any financial benefits or fees, other than real estate referral fees, the REALTOR® or REALTOR®’s firm may receive as a direct result of such recommendation. (Amended 1/99)
· Standard of Practice 6-1
REALTORS® shall not recommend or suggest to a client or a customer the use of services of another organization or business entity in which they have a direct interest without disclosing such interest at the time of the recommendation or suggestion. (Amended 5/88)
All good REALTORS® will have a team of companies they can recommend such as title companies, lenders, warranty companies and insurance companies. There are times when a fee is received for any business these companies obtain from the REALTOR®. Any monies received for these recommendations must be disclosed to all customers and clients. It must also be disclosed if the REALTOR® has an interest in any company that is recommended at the time of the recommendation. For example, if I have an interest in a mortgage company and recommend you contact them for rates I have to disclose my interest at that time. The fact that you may already have your financing lined up and will not be using my company does not matter. I must disclose since I have recommended them and you may use their services.
