A coupleof years ago we had a 1000 red flag alert come up when some fellows from NYC arrived in Johnstown to buy up massive numbers of modestly priced homes. They literally drove into and out of town in velvet sweat suits in big cars with bags of cash.

They had mob written all over them and we were very careful but didn’t allow them to control or change our business methods. As soon as we were able, we told them to hit the road – nicely so as not to die in the process.

The lenders we tried to protect against fraud really didn’t want to know. A few of the Realtors shut their doors to them but the ones who were hungry took the deals and their sellers suffered.

An inexperienced, hungry title agent took the deals and thought we were nuts.

Think about all of the stories we hear about fraud and think how many of them would have been stopped had they just had a strong, reputable escrow/title agent in control.

We agree on many points.

The golden rule is easy.

For complex, business ethical dilemma, we must move beyond the golden rule and consider how the other person wants to be treated, instead of assuming everyone wants to be treated the way we do.

Most everyone understands the golden rule as it was taught to us. Rarely, if ever, would the golden rule solve our ethical dilemmas in the practice of real estate, escrow, title, or lending.

All rules in general aren’t the issue. We’re talking about good sense commonly held values, easily understood, which if aspired to will likely result in fulfillment of the trust promised in the professional or fiduciary relationship.

Here’s a quote from The Mortgage Fraud Blog in which Kathleen Rice, Nassau County district attorney, explains why she will be so tough with the accused:

“Attorneys have more than just a professional responsibility to represent their clients’ interests,” said Rice. “These are professionals working in a position of trust, very often for clients who are not familiar with the law and may be going through an incredibly difficult episode in their lives. We will be very aggressive in going after professionals violating this trust and preying upon the vulnerabilities of their clients.”

I maintain that this is true for Realtors, mortgage lenders, title agents and attorneys – and that’s what we are discussing, trust and the ethical treatment of the consumer in a real property transaction.

I think it’s a fair bet that consumers would choose a professional who aspires to the Golden Rule in business transactions, which they understand, rather than a professional whose transactional ethical standards can’t easily be defined.

I realize everything is not black and white. We certainly have lots of shades of gray but by aspiring to some simple easy to understand – commonly held values – is a good thing in our business.

Much of the heartache of the current industry-wide correction may have been avoided if traditional standards were embraced by leadership and supported by peer pressure.

We have to heal our collective professional relationship with the consumer and with each other. The Golden Rule is not a bad place to start.

You are definitely right the following rules does not make a person ethical but it may create ethical outcomes. Peer pressure is a good thing when it supports right outcomes. So when we have a rogue Realtor, operating outside of the agreed ethical code, fellow Realtors put pressure on that individual to perform in an acceptable manner or face the consequences.

We have to face the facts that there are lots of personalities operating in our business and most will never be vetted with any kind of ethical scrutiny. So absent a good selection process, we can espouse simple guidelines like the Golden Rule, which most understand. It’s not a panacea, but it moves us forward in the right direction.