Professional Standards - As a REALTOR® member of the Marin Association of REALTORS®, you have agreed to abide by the NAR Code of Ethics. This Code of Ethics is comprised of a Preamble and 17 Articles. Most Articles have corresponding Standards of Practice that support and interpret the Article. In addition, Case Interpretations provided by NAR demonstrate the application of the Articles to particular situations.
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, land 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 person engaged to provide such assistance shall be so identified to the client and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth.
Case #11-1: Appraiser’s Competence for Assignment
REALTOR® A sold a light industrial property to Buyer B, a laundry operator. Several months later, Buyer B engaged REALTOR® A’s services to appraise the property and to supply an appraisal report for use in possible merger with another laundry. REALTOR® A carried out this appraisal assignment and submitted his report. Buyer (now Client) B was dissatisfied with the report feeling that the valuation, in comparison with the market price that he had paid was excessively low. Client B then engaged an appraiser specializing in industrial property, and after receiving the second appraisal report, filed a complaint with the Board of REALTORS® charging REALTOR® A with incompetent and unprofessional service as an appraiser.
At the hearing, questioning established that REALTOR® A could cite no other industrial property appraisal he had made, and that his appraisal experience had been limited exclusively to residential property. The hearing also established that when the client proposed the appraisal, REALTOR® A had readily accepted the assignment and that he had at no time disclosed the extent and limitations of this appraisal experience with his client.
REALTOR® A was found by the Hearing Panel to be in violation of Article 11.
