What questions can R.E. Agents legally answer? (settlements, price, illegal)

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

Taking liberties with Federal law is an ethics issue. Good agents do not make decisions for their clients.

You reallly think that "source of the source" is federal law? You are in bad need of a refresher course.

[mindy410]

My nephew is studying to become a realtor ask we speak and he told me realtors can't answer if a neighborhood is good because he wouldnt know. He said it is in the book he is using to study to take the realtor test. Mindy

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by mindy410

My nephew is studying to become a realtor ask we speak and he told me realtors can't answer if a neighborhood is good because he wouldnt know. He said it is in the book he is using to study to take the realtor test. Mindy

Actually Mindy - I must tell you that there is no such thing as a "realtor" test.

He may be studying for a real estate license, which is issued by the State of his residence.

REALTORS do not issue licenses.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by olecapt

You reallly think that "source of the source" is federal law? You are in bad need of a refresher course.

The Fair Housing Act is the law. Being the source of the source and allowing the client to decide are ways of complying with the law.

Ethics is black and white. All else is rationalization.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

Ethics is black and white. .

Actually - I have to respectfully disagree. Ethics is anything BUT black and white -

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Greatday

Actually - I have to respectfully disagree. Ethics is anything BUT black and white -

You are right. Bad choice of word on my part. Ethics is a philosophy.

So let me try this again.....Realtor compliance with the Fair Housing Act is black and white. Taking liberties is rationalizing violations.

[Silverfall]

The issue at play here is steering. What Fair Housing has found is that a "good" neighborhood will sometimes change depending on the race, religion, etc of someone.

If someone asks me for the "good" neighborhoods I do tell them what part of town has schools that get good rankings, lower crime rates, better appreciation of homes, stability, etc. (ie things backed up by facts) That is how I define good and I tell people that. My opinion doesn't change based on who you are though. Agents are legally allowed to have an opinion of a good neighborhood, what they are not legally able to do is have adifferent definition for different people.

What middle-aged mom is talking about and I agree with, is ethics. How you or I might define good or bad depends upon our experiences as individuals. We all have biases just from our mere existence as humans. I could tell you that Schirle elementary is the BEST school in Salem, OR. The fact that my son goes there, I really like his teacher, and I volunteer there makes me biased. Is it the best...maybe, maybe not. Good school yes. That is my personal opinion and the state report cards back me up.

Our job is to provide information and it is a buyer's job to make choices based on that. Some agents go to an extreme and don't share their opinion about anything, and some share when they should not. There is a middle ground in there somewhere, really it is about respecting our clients right to choose.

Honestly if you came up to me and said "I want to live in a neighborhood with other purple people, " you can do that. My question would be "where is it that you want me to look?" For all I know, one purple person in the neighborhood makes it a purple people neighborhood. I have no idea how you define that. You are allowed to segregate yourself and make your own choices. Agents just aren't allowed to restrict your choices for you. Make sense?

So if you want to look in good schools, I would look at the state report cards with your agent and talk about the schools from there. Some parents might be okay with schools that get average ratings, where I want strong to exceptional ratings. I would suggest you go and visit your top 3 and see if one feels better to you. A principal makes a huge difference in the culture of a school.

As for telling you a home is too nice for an area. That is not steering. It is pretty well established that the nicest home on a street won't get as much value as the cheapest house on the street will. You want your agent to tell you the resalability of the home, stability of home sales in that neighborhood, appreciation, etc. That is our expertise after all. When you buy a home that is across the street from a field, and that field is designated to be a super-walmart and will increase traffic by 10,000 cars in front of your home, you'd want to know that...

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

You are right. Bad choice of word on my part. Ethics is a philosophy.

So let me try this again.....Realtor compliance with the Fair Housing Act is black and white. Taking liberties is rationalizing violations.

No Realtor compliance with Fair Housing Act is not black and white. It is white, black, red, pink, squishy, illogical and thousands of other descriptors...it is anything but black and white.

One takes liberties with silly ass Broker CYA rules. Or at least capable Realtors do. One complies with the Fair Housing Act...to the extent that is possible.

And for the other poster there is and remains a major argument about steering by a Buyers Agent that has never been resolved. The official position is, in fact, that steering can be acceptable.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Steering can be acceptable.

Most definitely, when the buyer, not agent, is making the decision on which way he/she wants to turn.

Here are some examples of where agents/brokers got nailed in my local board area, last year:

1) Agent left car door unlocked in white neighborhood vs. locking the door while in a driveway in a transitional neighborhood, perceived to signal one was more prone to crime than the other.

2) Advertizing property in a family friendly neighborhood.

3) Advertizing property as suitable for empty nesters.

3) Advertizing property as being walk to anything.

4) Assuming Hispanic family wanted to live in a Hispanic neighborhood and not showing them anything else.

5) Interpolating state supplied school report card information by race.

And do not get me started on the convicted sexual predator who is a minority race and a woman- no joke

[Silverfall]

1) Agent left car door unlocked in white neighborhood vs. locking the door while in a driveway in a transitional neighborhood, perceived to signal one was more prone to crime than the other.

This has got to be one of the most asinine ones that I have heard. They went door to door and determined how many whites were in the "white neighborhood" and compared them to the whites in the "transitional neighborhood?" Transitional out here has to do with socioeconomic status. Does transitional mean something else where you are?

5) Interpolating state supplied school report card information by race. This agent who wastes their time figuring out these type of statistics clearly does not have enough business.

olecapt, are you referring to the steering issue with one of the EBA's? I am aware of that one, but not any others.