10.47 Ethical Advertising
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Company policy is to only practice ethical advertising.
Any advertising that misleads is unethical. A few examples of practices that are considered unethical are:
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Any ad which relies upon a "bait and switch" scheme**.** Ads in this category include advertising property that has already been sold, property that is not for sale, or advertising something that sounds too good to be true.
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Use of misleading words, maps, or images that imply that the property is something other than it actually is. For example, showing a property located on a map near the ocean when, in fact, the property is located a number of blocks from the ocean.
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"Blind" ads where the ad appears to be that of a property owner when, in fact, the ad is that of a licensee.
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Making any statement in an ad that is clarified only in small print or with asterisks**.** For example, an ad states 5.5% interest but the small print states that this offer only applies to buyers with a credit score over 730.
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Only licensees who participated in a transaction as the listing or cooperating selling agent may claim to have "sold" a property**.** This rule prevents a licensee claiming that he/she "sold" a property when in fact another licensee in his/her office may have "sold" the property.
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A recent "white paper" that arose out of a National Association of REALTORS® conference addressed the issue of relisting “for sale” homes by temporarily pulling them off the market and then reintroducing them to the market as a "new" listing. The white paper concluded that while to a broker, a listing contract is technically "new" each time the property is relisted, to the consumer a "new" listing is a property that is offered “for sale” for the first time. As a result, this practice can result in confusion and misunderstanding and can mean trouble. Since the NAR Code of Ethics requires honest, truthful advertising, and requires that all communications present a true picture in their advertising and representations, the relisting a property as "new" practice should be viewed as deceptive. Licensees should refer to relisted properties as "back on market" or, "price reduced". The white paper also encourages MLS services to implement additional listing input categories such as "reintroduced" or "recently relisted".
