|
About
Us Raleigh Regional
|
Filing Ethics Complaints and Arbitration Requests Q. Do you have a complaint concerning a REALTOR®? A. The first thing that must be determined in processing a complaint with a Board of REALTORS® is whether the real estate agent involved is a REALTOR®. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. Only those who belong to a Board of REALTORS® can use the term REALTOR®. When joining a Board, all members agree to abide by the Code of Ethics as a continuing of membership. It is because of their obligation to abide by the Code of Ethics that you can file a complaint at a Board of REALTORS®. Q. Is your Complaint Ethics or Arbitration? A. You may have to consider whether your complaint concerns an ethics matter or an arbitration dispute. An ethics complaint charges that a REALTOR® has violated an Article(s) of the Code of Ethics. Arbitration is a means of resolving a dispute arising out of a real estate transaction that the parties have been unable to solve themselves. An arbitration complaint or request is a simple notice by a member of a disagreement with another member, usually a commission dispute. Sometimes, arbitration concerns a dispute between a member of the public and a Board member. If your situation concerns both ethics and arbitration, the Board will handle the arbitration portion SEPARATELY. Only when the arbitration is completed will the ethics complaint be considered. Arbitration is always held first. Q. Who may file an ethics complaint? A. Anyone. Any person, whether a member or not, may file a complaint against a Board member alleging a violation of the Code of Ethics, providing the complaint: 1) is in writing 2) is signed by the complainant 3) states the facts surrounding the case 4) be filed within 180 days after the facts became known The complainant may file a complaint from any location providing it is filed with the Board having jurisdiction over the individual named in the complaint. Q. Who may file an arbitration request? A. • REALTORS® and Non-resident members who are principal brokers • REALTORS®, REALTORŇ-ASSOCIATES or Non-resident members who are not principals, provided his or her principal broker joins in the request. • Clients or customers of the REALTOR® (See NOTE below) • The request must also: 1) be in writing 2) be signed by the Complainant 3) indicate the amount in dispute 4) be filed within 180 days after the facts became known Arbitration facilities are provided by the Board as a service to its members. Arbitration is not a disciplinary proceeding nor does it award damages. By becoming and remaining a member of a Board of REALTORS®, each REALTOR® binds himself to arbitrate certain disputes. Be aware that not every situation may be arbitrated at the Board. There are conditions and limitations to be considered, which will be explained to you by the Board as the process continues. *NOTE: Disputes involving clients or customers require that the client or customer sign an agreement to arbitrate and to be bound by the arbitration. Whether the complainant is a client or a customer and whether the dispute is one that can be processed by the Board is determined by the Board’s Grievance Committee. Q. What can the Board do? A. A Board of REALTORS® has limitations to its authority regarding its members. Below is a list of those limitations: 1) The Board cannot try a Board member for violations of the North Carolina real estate license law or any other alleged violation of the law. It has jurisdiction only over violations of membership duties. The Real Estate Commission has sole control of the real estate agent’s license to sell real estate. If you think a person has violated the law, you should be contacting another agency. 2) For the same reason, the Board cannot suspend or terminate the license of one of its members. 3) The Board can, in the case of an ethics violation being determined in a due process hearing procedure, administer discipline to the REALTOR® in one or more of the following ways: • send a letter of warning or reprimand to the Member • direct the Member to attend an ethics class or other training appropriate to the violation • fine the Member up to a $1,000 (this fine is not awarded to the complainant) • place the Member on probation • suspend the membership of the REALTOR® • expel the Member from membership 4) Money damages may not be part of an ethics proceeding. 5) The Board can arbitrate certain money disputes and must in some situations, but the member of the public must agree in writing to arbitrate the dispute and to be bound by the decision. 6) The award in an arbitration may not be more than the amount in dispute and in no circumstances can ‘punitive’ be awarded. Q. How do you file? A. Now that you know the ground rules, if you wish to file a complaint, here’s how you dot it. Ethics complaints If you want to file an ethics compliant, you need to follow these steps: 1) Complete and sign the complaint form (supplied by the Board of REALTORS®). This form requests you to name the REALTOR® (s) in question as the Respondent(s). 2) List the Article(s) of the Code of Ethics that you think the REALTOR® has violated. (The Board will also supply you with a copy of the Code of Ethics.) 3) Attach an explanation of the situation surrounding the complaint. Be as specific as possible. State what, when, where, why and how, etc., you think each Article was violated. 4) Attach copies of any and all pertinent documents such as listing agreements, purchase and sales agreements, addendum, etc. If you have notarized statements from witnesses, include those also. 5) Send the entire package, keeping a copy for yourself, to the Board of REALTORS® to the attention of the Executive Officer or Elected Secretary. Your complaint will then be processed through the Grievance Committee. Arbitration requests The process is very similar to filing an ethics complaint. A request for arbitration form will be supplied by the Board. Steps to follow are: 1) Name the REALTOR®(s) involved (Respondents). 2) Indicate the amount in dispute. 3) Include an explanation of the situation. State why you feel you are entitled to an award of some kind. Remember, don’t include unethical allegations in your argument. If you think there have been ethical violations, they can be handled separately with an ethics complaint. 4) Attach copies of any and all pertinent documents such as listing agreements, purchase and sales agreements, closing statements, etc., plus any notarized statements from witnesses. 5) In some Boards, an arbitration deposit may be required. Check with the Boards about this requirement. 6) You will probably be asked to sign an arbitration agreement indicating your commitment to abide by the decision of the Hearing Panel. Sometimes this agreement won’t be requested until after the Grievance Committee has reviewed your request. 7) Send all of these items to the Board to the attention of the Executive Officer or Elected Secretary. Your request will now be processed by the Grievance Committee. Remember, it is not unusual for a Board to receive an ethics complaint and an arbitration request surrounding the same set of circumstances. If you think the REALTOR®(s) violated the Code of Ethics and you have a monetary dispute with him, you must complete BOTH forms. Q. How does the Board Process the complaint? A. There are two committees of the Board that handle complaints, the Grievance Committee and the Professional Standards Committee. Their functions are described below: Grievance Committee Ethics. This committee reviews complaints when they are received at the Board. The committee determines whether the complaint has sufficient merit for further consideration, somewhat like a “Grand Jury”. It does not determine guilt or innocence. The Committee will either: a) forward the case for a hearing, b) dismiss it, if the complaint is determined to be frivolous, harassing or unfounded, or c) postpone its decision based on getting more information from you or determining that the case may be more appropriately considered for arbitration. Also, before they reach a decision, the Committee may request a reply from the Respondent regarding your complaint. If the committee dismisses your complaint, you have the right to appeal the dismissal to the Board of Directors. In the case of an appeal, the Directors reexamine the materials submitted to the Grievance Committee and can either uphold or overturn the Grievance Committee’s decision. Your local board can explain further details. If the complaint is to be given further consideration, it will be sent to the Professional Standards Committee for a hearing. Arbitration. The Grievance Committee’s role in arbitration is different from ethics complaints. Its function is only to make such preliminary investigation to determine whether the matter is subject to arbitration by the Board. Arbitration is sometimes a duty and sometimes a privilege. The committee must decide whether your situation fits into the “duty” or the “privilege” category. It does this by determining: 1) whether you are authorized, under the rules, to invoke arbitration. 2) whether the controversy described is an arbitrable matter 3) whether the arbitration is mandatory or voluntary to the people involved (this simply means whether arbitrating the dispute is compulsory, or not) 4) whether either the amount in dispute is too small or too large, or the matter is too legally complicated for the Board to consider it. Such a review could result in the release of Board members from the obligation to arbitrate, and thus free you to seek other recourse in order to resolve the dispute. If the Grievance Committee determines that a matter is arbitrable, it may also notify the parties that a mediation procedure is available as a preliminary, voluntary alternative to arbitration. (This procedure is not available in all Boards.) In either ethics or arbitration cases, you will be informed promptly of the Grievance Committee’s decision. If the Grievance Committee forwards the complaint or request for hearing, it is assigned to the Professional Standards Committee. As in the case of ethics complaints, you may also appeal a dismissal of an arbitration request to the Board of Directors. The Directors review the materials submitted to the committee and can uphold or overturn the Grievance committee’s dismissal. Check with you local Board for details. Professional Standards Committee The function of this committee is to hold ethics and arbitration hearings. If the Respondent(s) has not already been requested to reply to your complaint, he will be at this time. A hearing will then be scheduled and you will be notified of the hearing’s date, time and place. These hearings provide an opportunity for the Complainant and the Respondent to explain “his or her side of the story” by presenting testimony and witnesses, if any. Once all the facts have been presented, a Hearing Panel, consisting of Members of the Board chosen on the basis of their experience, temperament and objectivity, will determine whether the Code of Ethics has been violated, or, in the case of an arbitration, how the dispute should be settled. The Board will inform you about each step of this process as it occurs. You will also be given instructions about the hearing procedures prior to the hearing. The entire process will usually take a minimum of 60 days, but may take longer. If
you have any questions relating to filing you complaint, please call you local
Board of REALTORS®
|
|
