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 There are a lot of articles hitting the blogs questioning the ethics of today’s challenging market. In my area, we face a housing shortage, esp in some price ranges, and it appears as though many are not listing the homes on the MLS as directed - and as a result are selling the homes themselves. While double-ending a listing is legal in CA, is it ethical? One may think of the multitude of fiduciary duties owed to a seller - whether the seller is a bank or an individual - and challenge just whose interests are being protected.

If a seller hires an agent - again whether it be a corporate listing or an individual - you are charged with the duty to obtain the best price for your customer as well as the best buyer. Can you do this ethically? Can you effectively due your duty? In my experience, the only one who wins is the agent. It seems to be happening more and more where the agents are withholding the listing from the MLS or putting that there are no showings until further notice (typically noted as due to repairs) yet the home pops up as pending/sold either before or on the date the home is advertised as available. Another issue is the agents will post a sign in front of the property yet not put it in the MLS - when a call is made to see when the home will be available for showings, we are given a non-commital reply. Again, the home is NOT in the MLS - but when it is finally listed at some point in the future it is listed as pending/sold………..so the agent is putting it in the MLS as per the rules but tends to sell the home themselves before reaching the market place, effectively, in this agents opinion, of stealing from the seller.

The AM’s I work with require me to prove that it is in the MLS for 5 days before they will even look at any of the offers and in my experience, wont pay me both ends if I bring in the buyer - in effect, they are discouraging this from happening. I know there are some who side-step this rule by “referring” the buyer to another agent, thus obtaining a referral fee on top of their half of the commission. Legal? Yes! Ethical? That’s up to you to decide…………

I could go on and on due to the fact that I have cultivated relationships with both buyers and sellers who wish to purchase/sell in this market. However, I refuse to be dragged into the quagmire of greed.