I’ve written a lot about advertising over the past 16 years, as evidenced by the number of columns on this topic in the Ethics Guy®’s keyword index. But I haven’t written on the subject recently, so here are a few reminders to help you deal with advertising issues members ask me about.

But first, I’ll highlight the relevant standards and where you can find them.

The Board has two sets of rules it can enforce against members: the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and the Rules of Cooperation.

Other entities have standards too, for example:

• The BC Financial Services Authority;
• The Competition Bureau; 
• The do-not-call and anti-spam;
• Privacy, and 
• Trademark folks.

There are so many different requirements in such a multitude of places it isn’t surprising to me that members occasionally run advertising that doesn’t tick all the boxes. That’s why, except for serial offenders, we generally take a low-key approach to dealing with advertising complaints. Most of the time when we call a member who is unaware of the standard in question, or who simply forgot to show a trademark or brokerage’s name, or to insert the “this is not intended to induce a breach of an existing agency contract” disclaimer, we do a bit education and call it a day. As a result, we don’t usually get repeat performances.

Here’s the REALTOR® Code’s very broad definition of advertising:

Advertising means any marketing activity to promote the brokerage, the REALTOR® or a transaction and includes any verbal, written or graphic representation in any form, including electronic media.

1. Not including the brokerage name (REALTOR® Code Article 13)
2. Making unsupported claims (Article 15)
3. Sending advertising to sellers who have asked for privacy protection (Rule of Cooperation, Rule 6.06)
4. Making offers or inducements qualified by “some restrictions apply, go to my website for details”; the exceptions have to be in the ad, not somewhere else, (Article 15)
5. Advertising other members’ listings without permission (Article 14)
6. Using other members’ pictures/floorplans without permission (Article 28, Rule 3.25)
7. Copying from an old listing (Rule 3.06)
8. Not respecting CREA’s trademark of the words REALTOR®, REALTORS®, MLS® and Multiple Listing Service® (Article 27)
9. (Except for life members), not showing the year(s) for which the member has qualified for Medallion/President’s Club (Member Manual, Section 6, Medallion Club Advertising)
10. Confusing social with mainstream media (the standards are the same for both)

Honourable mention: thinking that these standards don’t apply to foreign-language media.

The Board has an entire course devoted to the subject, Advertising Clinic: Do's and Don’ts. Check it out.

I can’t understate the value of two managing brokers communicating with each other about a member instead of making a member complaint. The Professional Conduct Committee requires this before it will hear a complaint. But even so, it’s always a good idea to contact the other side when there’s a concern about another member’s conduct. Having a chat will often reveal nuances about what happened and may shed some light on a murky situation.

When there’s a dispute, things are rarely black and white. It’s helpful to really understand the other side’s perspective. Reaching out can also open the door to a “What does a solution look like to you?”, “What’ll it take to get this thing resolved?” kind of conversation.

Recently, two files I was fairly certain would go to a formal complaint were resolved between the brokerages to the satisfaction of all concerned, mainly due to goodwill and the efforts of the managing brokers. Well done!