In this issue of REALINFO we are focusing on an important RAHB member service:  Professional Standards. RAHB is charged with running the organized real estate marketplace within the geographical boundaries of the Burlington, Hamilton and surrounding communities. To do that we focus on two areas: first, we manage the local Multiple Listing Service® System and, second, we define and enforce rules with the goal of ensuring the marketplace functions in an efficient and fair manner for all participants. Of course, those participants are mostly our members, but they also, more frequently, include REALTORS® from other areas who may work with a client or customer within our area.

RAHB strives to hold our members to high professional standards. That means we expect you to abide by the rules for real estate trading found in REBBA 2002, as well as those in RAHB’s MLS® Rules and Regulations and Policies.  We also expect you to uphold the Code of Ethics in REBBA 2002 as well as the CREA REALTOR® Code. Links to all those sources can be found on page 13 of this newsletter.

RAHB has among its membership an overwhelming number of ethical, upstanding real estate professionals who do an exemplary job of helping buyers and sellers. We expect you are part of that group by demonstrating professionalism daily when working in a way that is both fair to fellow REALTORS® while working for your clients and customers. You help consumers with one of the largest, and often most emotional, transactions of their lives. What you do affects many people.

Unfortunately, when something goes wrong and a member willingly or unwittingly ignores a rule or acts unethically, it can reflect negatively on all REALTORS®. This is where RAHB’s Professional Standards services apply.

RAHB’s Professional Standards Committee exists to investigate allegations of wrong-doing on the part of a member. If you encounter a situation where a REALTOR® hasn’t followed the rules or has acted unethically, you should file a formal complaint with RAHB’s Professional Standards Committee. It is the only way that Committee can follow up and ensure that improper behavior is investigated and appropriate disciplinary action is taken. The process is outlined on page 13.

It takes years to build a positive reputation, but only minutes to lose it. By helping the Professional Standards Committee fulfill its mandate, you can help ensure all members are upholding the high standards of the profession you deserve.

 

Best regards,

George O’Neill