BPO - What a Realtor thinks about them

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

2003 Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of Realtors:

Article 11

The services which Realtors provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate.

Realtors shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent on such types of property or service, or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client. Any persons engaged to provide such assistance shall be so identified to the client and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth. (Amended 1/95)

* Standard of Practice 11-1
When Realtors prepare opinions of real property value or price, other than in pursuit of a listing or to assist a potential purchaser in formulating a purchase offer, such opinions shall include the following:
1) identification of the subject property
2) date prepared
3) defined value or price
4) limiting conditions, including statements of purpose(s) and intended user(s)
5) any present or contemplated interest, including the possibility of representing the seller/landlord or buyers/tenants
6) basis for the opinion, including applicable market data
7) if the opinion is not an appraisal, a statement to that effect (Amended 1/01)

* Standard of Practice 11-2
The obligations of the Code of Ethics in respect of real estate disciplines other than appraisal shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the standards of competence and practice which clients and the public reasonably require to protect their rights and interests considering the complexity of the transaction, the availability of expert assistance, and where the Realtor is an agent or subagent, the obligations of a fiduciary. (Adopted 1/95)

* Standard of Practice 11-3
When Realtors provide consultive services to clients which involve advice or counsel for a fee (not a commission), such advice whall be rendered in an objective manner and the fee shall not be contingent of the substance of the advice or counsel given. If brokerage or transaction services are to be provided in addition to consultive services, a separate compensations may be paid with prior agreement between the client and Realtor (Adopted 1/96)

* Standard of Practice 11-4
The compentency required by Article 11 relates to services contracted for between Realtors and their clients or customers; the duties expressly imposed by the Code of Ethics; and the duties imposed by law or regulation. (Adopted 1/02)

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Anyone here wanna bet their BPO orders arrive with a 'value wanted' on them and only the Realtors that find those wanted values are the ones doing all the BPOs???????????????

 

[Karl]

Goes to show there are good & bad in all walks of life. In any proffession there are those they have no idea that there is a Code of Ethics. Motorcycle clubs have Code of Ethics & probablly more adhered to than any that those that wear suits abide by.

 

[TC]

To drop my PMI a BPO was done. I talked to guy, said he was doing about 30 a week, for 150 a pop. Sounded pretty good to me, the form is easy, very little liability. How can we appraisers fight that?

TC

 

[Austin]

Article 11
The services which REALTORS® provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate.

Does that statement "standards of practice and competence which are realonably expected in the specifid real estate discipline" not mean UAPAP? What else could it mean?

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Vague enough that anything goes, I guess.

 

[Austin]

Speaking of Realtor Ethics and anything goes. My daughter and one of her best friends graduated from college and were in the market for a house. It is absolutely against MLS policy to let a client see much less use the MLS book. Both my daughter and her friend came to me to check out houses they were looking at. Both had a copy of the MLS book. I asked them how they got it. They said the Realtor let them use it over the weekend. Guess who is chairman of the MLS committee?

We use to have a prominent lady Realtor who is retired now. Another Realtor listed a house then went back to the office and brought the entire staff out to preview the house. They knocked on the door and after a delay the owner let them in. As they were previewing the house they opened a closet door and guess who they found hiding in the closet? My prominent Realtor buddy who was out trying to spoof the listing from the Realtor that just listed it. We should have a thread on Realtor stories.

 

[Dave Brigle]

Having been in the real estate industry since 1977 (yes I'm old croonie) what I know is that the Realtor Code of Ethics is a joke. Just had a run in with a "flipper", what really made me mad (language edited for PC) was that I was expected to "go along" with her scam. After looking at the Board of Realtor's by-laws it became obvious that the only one who would get into any grief was myself. So what can I do? What I did was send my file with color photos to the State Attorney General titled "This is how mortgage fraud begins".

 

[Bill_FL]

Everyone should check their state law.

This is NC's:

© Nothing in this Chapter shall preclude a real estate broker or salesman licensed under Chapter 93A of the General Statutes from performing a comparative market analysis as defined in G.S. 93E-1-4, provided the person does not represent himself or herself as being a registered trainee or a State-licensed or State-certified real estate appraiser. A real estate broker or salesperson may perform a comparative market analysis for compensation or other valuable consideration only for prospective or actual brokerage clients or for real property involved in an employee relocation program.

This is FL's

2) This section does not preclude a broker, salesperson, or broker-salesperson who is not a certified or licensed real estate appraiser or registered assistant real estate appraiser from appraising real estate for compensation. Such persons may continue to provide appraisals and appraisal services for compensation so long as they do not represent themselves as certified, licensed, or registered under this part.

As you can see, they are quite different. NC's only allows BPO's for prospective brokerage clients. Perhaps appraisers in each state should loby for changes similar.

 

[Bob Ipock]

From my experienc as a Realtor, appraiser and investor over the last 30 years I see little difference in the ethics of appraisers or Realtors. Ethics seems to just fly out the window when there is a commission check or appraisal fee to be had.

Sad state of affairs. When crossing the line becomes the norm it is difficult to interest others in doing what is right. "Everybody does it " seems to be battle cry of our nation.

 

[Bob Ipock]

Bill,


The real problem is enforcement. The NCAB has no authority to check up on or investigate real estate agents and the Real Estate Commission is not much interested in the BPO issue.

I know of many local agents who do lots of BPO's with no reasonable chance for a listing. I don't have copies of them and could not prove it. I have seen quite a few of them. These BPO's should be required to be kept in a file just like appraisals. I would also line to the The State Appraisal Boards have the ability to inspect these BPO files with cause.