"Code of Ethics for Realtors"



Ethics: A Standard Higher Than The Law



 "Ethics"...

Talk about a hot topic!  What does it mean?  And by whose definition?  And by what moral code?



Politicians Sure Take a Hit!



Personally, I see evidence that we are in a "crisis of ethics" (or, rather, lack thereof).  We are, as a nation, in a moral drift away from what made us great.  But hey, just because our prison population has increased from 250,000 to over 2,300,000 in a little over 20 years?  Yes, I know there's a lot more to it! 

I get to teach this topic to the Flagler County, Florida, Association of Realtors.  It's humbling, to say the least.  Especially knowing how many times I've erred personally.  I recount to the class a glaring ethical error I made, as a new sales agent in 1986.  It seemed to make "good business sense" to me at the time.  Yet, I must have dozed off during that session of my "new agent training!"

I was born the day WWII ended.  You could say I'm the first Baby Boomer.  My parent's generation defined us then as "hard working, patriotic, and morally centered (with the one glaring disgrace of racial ignorance)."  Then my generation, starting about 1968, fueled the national push towards, "If it feels good, do it!"  This, as an aside, was Sigmund Freud's take on ethics and morality.  How could a guy so smart... be so dumb?


Ethics Continuing Education



As Realtors, we are challenged to behave ethically today in a very tumultuous arena.  The bubble has burst.  Our homes are worth less than half of their 2005/2006 value.  Our neighbors and friends are being foreclosed upon.  People are hurting.  And surely you recall the saying that, "Desperate times require desperate measures!"

Our Realtor Code of Ethics Manual acquiesces that:

• There is no idea which cannot be misapplied.
• No faith which cannot be exploited.
• No concept which cannot be abused.
• And no principle which cannot be perverted.

Well, I guess that about covers our human nature tendencies!  In our defense, our manual states:  "In the interpretation of this (ethical) obligation, Realtors can take no safer guide than that which has been handed down through the centuries, embodied in The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Can I get an "Amen?"