Submission of Pertinent Facts

Article 14

Buyer A filed a complaint against REALTOR® B, the listing broker, involving a property purchased earlier by Buyer A.

REALTOR® B was notified of the complaint, directed to be present at a hearing, and requested to present to a Hearing Panel of the Board’s Professional Standards Committee all pertinent facts relating to the transaction. REALTOR® B’s response was a statement that he would refuse to submit any information in the matter to a Hearing Panel and would not attend the scheduled hearing, on the grounds that the complaint itself was not justified.

Explaining his position, REALTOR® B stated that his participation in the transaction was exclusively as the agent of the seller; that he had not been representing the buyer; and hence, could not be subject to a complaint by the buyer for simply transmitting information on behalf of the seller.

All of his statements concerning the property, REALTOR® B said, were based on information supplied to him by his client, the seller. Any error in this information, he contended, might well provide the basis for a lawsuit between the buyer and seller. As the agent of the seller, he felt that he was not answerable to the buyer for having done no more than transmit information provided to him by the seller.

REALTOR® B was advised by the Board that his reasoning was incorrect; that he was obligated by Article 14 to submit pertinent facts to a Hearing Panel of the Board’s Professional Standards Committee and to participate in the hearing. REALTOR® B agreed to comply, and a hearing on the complaint was held.