REALTOR® A, a home builder, showed one of his newly constructed houses to Buyer B. In discussion, the buyer observed that some kind of construction was beginning nearby. He asked REALTOR® A what it was. "I really don't know," said REALTOR® A, "but I believe it's the attractive new shopping center that has been planned for this area." Following the

purchase, Buyer B learned that the new construction was to be a bottling plant and that the adjacent area was zoned industrial.

Charging that the proximity of the bottling plant would have caused him to reject purchase of the home, Buyer B filed a complaint with the Board of REALTORS® charging REALTOR® A with unethical conduct for failing to disclose a pertinent fact. The Grievance Committee referred the complaint for a hearing before a Hearing Panel of the Professional Standards Committee.

During the hearing, REALTOR® A's defense was that he had given an honest answer to Buyer B's question. At the time he had no positive knowledge about the new construction. He knew that other developers were planning an extensive shopping center in the general area, and had simply ventured a guess. He pointed out, as indicated in Buyer B's testimony, that he had prefaced his response by saying he didn't know the answer to this question.

What did the Hearing Panel Decide?