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I am an agent in California and there are rules against advertising another agent's listing. We aren't allowed to do it.
In Florida, some associations allow "Any Broker Advertise," which mans any agent can advertise another agent's listing.
However.... there is an agent in Florida who has hired a BRAND NEW drone company (who basically is doing it for advertising, since the company is run by young kids - who do the drones, and some young adults.)
What this agent is doing is going to ACTIVE listings and doing a complete drone shoot of the property. They went to a few houses and this is a way for the agent and the new drone company to advertise THEMSELVES. They even did it at a 2.9 Million dollar home (the exterior only).
Again, they have shot multiple properties that were listed by other agents.
The videos start off with the logo of the drone company and end with an advertisement for this agent.
Has anyone heard of agents doing this? I never have. But, even if they got verbal approval from owner or agent (which I doubt they have), it just seems like going a bit too far.
Entirely depends on Florida real estate commission rules.
However, there are also probably some privacy issues, as well as regulations regarding the use of drones, that this agent has stomped into the ground. If I were the homeowner, I'd be severely annoyed -- unless he brought me a contract, in which case I'd probably get over it.
The state rules presumably are built (rightly or wrongly) on the assumption that the industry will benefit from agents advertising each other's homes. Perhaps because this 'cooperation' will increase the general level of marketing effort for listed homes which in theory will increase sales activity and collective success. It sounds like this agent is taking initiative to create compelling marketing material for houses across different agents and . Their hiring of the third party drone firm is a red herring in this discussion unless i'm missing something.
You should be more specific as to why you think it's 'gone too far'.
You don't take a position that this marketing activity falls foul of any standard state agreements so I assume that there are no legal/technical issue with it (i.e. I assume that the seller agrees to marketing of the home including photos, videos, etc and that the adverts meet all industry professional standards that may be in place.)
Maybe you think it's gone too far because this agent is overshadowing the listing agent with these marketing materials? I.e. it might create a perception that these homes (especially the prestige ones) are associated with the agent doing the drone advertisement? But again, if the principles behind the rules are those of collaborative marketing, then it seems all well aligned with the intent of the rules which are to maximize marketing effort.
I cannot speak to all MLS', only my own (Triangle NC).
The rules of the IDX (cross promotion if you will) require secondary brokers to clearly state that they are presenting the listing of another broker.
The OP doesn't specifically mention that the other agent DOESN'T include the OP's information...but they do infer it when they only say it included the other agent and the drone company info.
The taking of photo and video of a person's home by folks NOT associated with the brokerage has certainly bubbled up. Our listing agreement - and I assume others - state we (the listing brokerage) can and will take photos and market the property. It's never given a buyer or another agent the right to take photos, do Facetime, shoot a video, etc.
To the extent that a person is allowed to fly their drone in public space and photo the exterior of any home, then the practice discussed would be legal. I don't know - but certainly doubt, don't you - that a drone company can fly over and photograph private property without the consent of the property owner.
And the listing agreement gives consent to the LISTING BROKER. It is no blanket consent, and it isn't consent under the "cooperation doctrine" you're so hung up on.
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
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In FL it is not legal to take pictures from the air of a person or their property without permission.
The 2017 statutes contain the following under 3 (b): Prohibited Uses of Drones --
A person, a state agency, or a political subdivision as defined in s. 11.45 may not use a drone equipped with an imaging device to record an image of privately owned real property or of the owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee of such property with the intent to conduct surveillance on the individual or property captured in the image in violation of such person’s reasonable expectation of privacy without his or her written consent. With respect to privately owned real property, the observation of such property’s physical improvements with sufficient visual clarity to be able to determine unique identifying features or its occupancy by one or more persons.
For purposes of this section, a person is presumed to have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his or her privately owned real property if he or she is not observable by persons located at ground level in a place where they have a legal right to be, regardless of whether he or she is observable from the air with the use of a drone.
This is what the National Association of Realtors has to say regarding advertising of other agents listings:
Article 12 of the Code of Ethics requires that REALTORS® be truthful in all advertising they do, and Standard of Practice 12-4 states clearly that "REALTORS® shall not offer for sale/lease or advertise property without authority."
As a listing broker, you obtain authority from the seller to advertise the property. But if the property isn't your listing, you would need to obtain authority from the listing broker before you promote the home, even if your ad gives credit to the other company as the listing agent. There may also be license law requirements in your state that prohibit you from advertising another broker's listing in print, even if you have authority from the listing broker. The exception to this rule is IDX feeds. If you obtain another broker's listings as part of your MLS's Internet Data Exchange system, that means the broker already agreed to give other brokers the authority to display all of those listings, per the IDX rules.
So from my perspective, the FL agent using drone footage of other agents listings probably broke state law if the agent failed to get the homeowners permission to film their properties
and
violated the Realtor Code of Ethics.
That's not counting local association rules that may have been violated.
Last edited by Sunshine Rules; 09-03-2017 at 09:01 PM..
There are days my property is in ideal shape for a drone photoshoot and there are days potentially that we are outside in scraggly clothes clearing up storm debris or digging ditches or working on the old car or doing other weird things -- in private.
Thus unplanned drone invasion is definitely an invasion of privacy. We don't want those images to be part of our persona, however innocent. Posting those unsolicited and unapproved photos publically should be illegal.
There are days my property is in ideal shape for a drone photoshoot and there are days potentially that we are outside in scraggly clothes clearing up storm debris or digging ditches or working on the old car or doing other weird things -- in private.
Thus unplanned drone invasion is definitely an invasion of privacy. We don't want those images to be part of our persona, however innocent. Posting those unsolicited and unapproved photos publically should be illegal.
With Zillow/Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin, Remax, and who-knows-who offering up unsolicited opinions of property values for commercial purposes without accountability, I think you can expect little support for your concern.
Well.... I agree with you, FWIW.
We will be a minority.
With Zillow/Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin, Remax, and who-knows-who offering up unsolicited opinions of property values for commercial purposes without accountability, I think you can expect little support for your concern.
Well.... I agree with you, FWIW.
We will be a minority.
Thanks for the agreement anyway. But to my mind, an unsolicited opinion on value is not an invasion of privacy. An opinion is worthless without supporting data.
A photograph of a couple snuggling in their backyard hammock is an invasion of sorts. As is a photo of me cleaning my extravagant jewelry collection on the back patio, or my toddlers swimming in the pond in the back.
Unapproved, somewhat close photos of me and mine at our "castle" should belong only to us and, if warranted, the FBI.
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