Realtor® Ethics & Professional Standards

The local board or association’s Grievance Committee will review your complaint. They review complaints to determine if the allegations made, if taken as true, might support a violation of the Article(s) cited in the complaint.

If the Grievance Committee dismisses your complaint, it means they do not feel that the allegations made would support a hearing panel’s conclusion that the Article(s) cited had been violated. You may want to review your complaint and the Article(s) cited to see if they are appropriate for the allegations. You can appeal this dismissal to the board of directors of the local board or association.

If the Grievance Committee forwards your complaint for hearing, that does not mean they have concluded a violation has occurred. It means they feel that if what you allege is found to have occurred by the hearing panel, that panel may have reason to find that a violation has occurred.

Familiarize yourself with the hearing procedures that will be followed, such as challenging potential panel members, your right to counsel, calling witnesses and the burdens and standards of proof that apply.

Complainants have the ultimate responsibility (“burden”) of proving that the Code of Ethics has been violated. The standard of proof that must be met is “clear, strong and convincing,” defined as “that measure or degree of proof which will produce a firm belief or conviction as to the allegations sought to be established.” Consistent with American jurisprudence, respondents are considered innocent unless proven to have violated the Code of Ethics.

Ensure that your witnesses and counsel will be available on the day of the hearing. Continuances are a privilege, not a right.

Collect all documents and other evidence to present your case.

Organize your presentation in advance. Know what you will say and be prepared to demonstrate what happened and how you believe the Code of Ethics was violated.

The panel members are unpaid volunteers giving their time as an act of public service Their objective is to be fair, unbiased and impartial; to determine, based on evidence and testimony presented to them, what occurred; and then to determine whether the facts, as they find them, support a finding that the Article(s) charged have been violated.

Hearing panels cannot conclude that an Article has been violated unless it was specifically cited in the complaint.

Keep your presentation concise, factual and to the point. Demonstrate what happened (or what should have happened but didn’t) and how the facts support a violation of the Article(s) charged in the complaint.

The hearing panel’s decision is based on evidence and testimony presented during the hearing. If you have relevant information, be sure to bring it up during your presentation.

Different people can witness the same event and have differing recollections about what they saw. The fact that a respondent or their witnesses recall things differently does not mean they aren’t telling the truth as they recall the events. It is up to the hearing panel to determine what actually happened.

The hearing panel will pay careful attention to what you say and how you say it. An implausible account doesn’t become more believable through repetition or through volume.

This process is adversarial and, to some degree, unavoidably confrontational. Many violations of the Code of Ethics result from misunderstanding or lack of awareness of ethical duties by otherwise well-meaning real estate professionals. An ethics complaint has the potential to be viewed as an attack on a respondent’s integrity and professionalism. For the enforcement process to function properly, it is imperative that all parties maintain appropriate decorum.

When you receive the hearing panel’s decision, review it carefully. Findings of fact are conclusions of impartial panel members based on their reasoned assessment of all evidence and testimony presented during the hearing. Findings of fact are not appealable.

If you believe the hearing process was seriously flawed to the extent you were denied a full and fair hearing, there are appellate procedures that can be involved. The fact that a hearing panel found no violation is not appealable.

Refer to the procedures used by the local board or association for detailed information on the bases and time limits for appealing decisions or requesting a rehearing. Rehearings are generally granted only when newly discovered evidence comes to light, which could not reasonably have been discovered and produced at the original hearing and which might have had a bearing on the hearing panel’s decision. Appeals brought by ethics respondents must be based on a perceived misapplication or misinterpretation of one or more Articles of the Code of Ethics; a procedural deficiency or failure of due process; or the nature or gravity of the discipline proposed by the hearing panel. Appeals brought by ethics complainants are limited to procedural deficiencies or failures of due process that may have prevented a full and fair hearing.