The following case study is taken from the Professional Standards files of the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington.  The names have been changed.

A Salesperson submitted to RAHB a Property Information sheet which indicated “Yes” under the item “central air conditioning”.

The Buyer, upon moving into the property, noticed there was no air conditioning system even though the listing indicated there was. The Buyer filed a complaint with the Professional Standards Committee.

It was determined that the subject property did not, in fact, have an air conditioning system. The Salesperson had used information from a previous listing and did not verify the information from that listing.

The Salesperson opted for an Abbreviated Hearing for breach of the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton Burlington Rules and Regulations, Section 2 MLS® – Sub-Section 2.05:

The Listing Brokerage and Listing REALTOR® are responsible for the accuracy of all information submitted by the Listing Brokerage to the association MLS® system, whether Board Loaded or Broker Loaded.

The member was assessed the hearing costs, fined, and was required to take an education course.

Moral of the story:  Members are responsible for the accuracy of the listing and must verify all information and not rely on previous listing information.