Mr. and Mrs. A visited REALTORŪ B's office and explained they had owned a four-bedroom ranch house nearby for thirty years but since their children were grown and Mr. A was retiring, they wanted to sell their home and tour the country in their motor home.
REALTORŪ B and Mr. and Mrs. A entered into an exclusive listing agreement. REALTORŪ B conducted an open house, advertised in the local paper, and took other steps to actively promote the sale. Four weeks after the property went on the market, REALTORŪ B received a call from REALTORŪ Z, a broker affiliated with the same firm who worked out of the firm's principal office downtown. REALTORŪ Z explained that she had seen information regarding Mr. and Mrs. A's home in the MLS and was interested
in the property as an investment. She indicated she was sending an offer to purchase to REALTORŪ B through the firm's inter-office mail.
When REALTORŪ B met with Mr. and Mrs. A to present REALTORŪ Z's offer, he carefully explained and presented a written disclosure that REALTORŪ Z was a member of the same firm although he was not
personally acquainted with her. Mr. and Mrs. A, being satisfied with the terms and conditions of the purchase offer, signed it and several weeks later the sale closed and a commission was paid to REALTORŪ B. Several weeks later, REALTORŪ B received a letter from Attorney T, representing Mr. and Mrs. A. Attorney T's letter indicated that since a member of REALTORŪ B's firm had purchased the property, in Attorney T's opinion, REALTORŪ B was not entitled to a commission. The letter went on to demand that REALTORŪ B refund the commission that had been paid by Mr. and Mrs. A. REALTORŪ B politely, but firmly, refused to refund the commission.
Mr. and Mrs. A filed a complaint with the Board of REALTORSŪ alleging that REALTORŪ B's refusal to refund the commission constituted a violation of Article 1 of the Code of Ethics. REALTORŪ B, in his response, agreed with the facts as stated in Mr. and Mrs. A's complaint but indicated that he had faithfully represented the best interests of Mr. and Mrs. A and had no obligation to refund the commission.
The Grievance Committee concluded that the matter should be referred to a Hearing Panel of the Board's Professional Standards Committee.
