12.7 Commercial Email Policy

It is the policy of the Company, to comply with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, more commonly known as the “CAN-SPAM Act of 2003” (the “Act”). The Act does not ban commercial emails but rather outlines a series of practices that must be followed when sending them. All agents and employees of The Company are required to comply with this policy.

1. Requirements for commercial email messages. The Act defines “commercial electronic mail message” as “any electronic mail message for the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” Commercial email messages must include the following:

2. A clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation (unless the recipient has given prior consent to the sender to receive commercial emails).

3. A functioning e-mail address or other mechanism that allows the recipient to send a message requesting that the sender stop sending commercial e-mails to the recipient.

4. A clear and conspicuous notice of the recipient’s opportunity to opt-out of future messages.

5. A valid physical postal address for the sender.

E-mails sent to individuals or firms with whom an agent or employee has an existing business relationship are not exempt under the Act and must contain the information listed above unless they are “transactional or relationship messages.” (See below for more on “transactional or relationship messages.”)

If a recipient makes a request to not receive commercial e-mail messages from the Company or its sales associates, the sender has 10 business days to stop sending commercial emails to them and may not sell or otherwise transfer the recipient’s email address to another party. A recipient who has opted out may thereafter be contacted only if he or she subsequently gives the Company and its sales associate’s permission to send commercial emails.

2. Exemptions. The Act exempts from its requirements “transactional or relationship messages.” For a real estate agent, a “transactional or relationship message” would be an email to a client addressing an ongoing transaction or related to the agent’s representation of the client. For example, e**-**mails sent by a listing agent to a seller who has listed her home for sale or by an agent to a buyer client probably would be considered “transactional or relationship messages.” On the other hand, emails that solicit sellers or buyers who are not presently Company clients probably would not be considered “transactional or relationship messages.”