“Safety and Respect of Persons and Property”: What’s It Really Mean?

Showing violations have increased sharply the past two months, so let’s take a moment to review the rules around showing a property (NTREIS MLS Rules & Regulations Section 8-Selling Procedures). The key parts of that section read:

“8.02 Appointments for showing Listed Property shall be conducted exclusively through the Listing Participant. The Listing Participant may authorize the Other Participant to show the Listed Property as indicated in the showing instructions or showing features field. If after reasonable effort, the Other Participant is unable to contact the Listing Participant or his/her representative, then in that event, the Other Participant may make direct contact with the owner only for the purpose of showing Listed Property.”

“8.04 Access, entrance to, and/or activities of Participants/Subscribers while inside Listed Property is restricted and limited to brokerage activities for authorized real estate licensees pursuant to the provisions of the applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the applicable state governmental agency and such other activities expressly authorized by the owner of the Listed Property.”

Sellers entrust REALTORS® with their most valuable asset, their home. Section 8.04 above specifies “for authorized real estate licensees” precisely because real estate license holders are vetted by TREC. Your clients who want to view a property are not vetted that way. An attempt to gain access to a property when it’s not expected could turn into an extremely bad situation very quickly.

Best practices for when making an appointment to show a property to your client:

• Enter a property only if you have a confirmed appointment (unless showing instructions say go & show). Read and follow the showing instructions in each listing.
• Never allow a buyer to enter a property unaccompanied or to explore a property without supervision. Never provide codes or access to clients. Always accompany your client to a property showing. Be sure the showing info/code(s) are not shown on any documentation provided to your client.
• Leave the property as you found it. Lights off or on, gate open or closed, curtains open or closed. Close and lock any doors or windows were opened during showing.
• Be courteous. If you’re going to be late or are running early, contact the listing agent and/or showing service to see if there is a later or earlier appointment available. Make a call to the listing agent if anything changes or if there is something not quite right when you arrive for your confirmed showing appointment.
• The safety of persons and property should always be on your mind.
• Remember: you represent all REALTORS® in your behavior.
• Professionalism to clients, customers, and other REALTORS® is critical.

NAR has established a list of Professional Courtesies when showing properties. These courtesies can be found under the Pathways to Professionalism:

nar.realtor/code-of-ethics-and-arbitration-manual/pathways-to-professionalism

Please make sure you are familiar with these standards. Property Sellers are taking great risks when they open their homes. Violating that trust can have serious consequences.