THE PERILS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING AND REAL ESTATE

THE PERILS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING AND REAL ESTATE

By: The Giardinelli Law Group, APC

Many real estate agents, REALTORS®, and brokers are using social networking websites to notify their “friends” and “followers” of property listings. While this act seems innocent enough, the real estate practitioner could be violating state law, National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, MLS rules, and possibly federal law. 

• Stale Postings.
A stale posting is when a real estate practitioner posts a listing on his blog, Facebook or Twitter page and the house sells, the listing expires, or the owner withdraws the property, and the listing is not removed or updated. These old postings, which are now inaccurate and misleading, can come up when people are searching for a property online. NAR Code of Ethics, Article 12, Standard of Practice 12-8 requires REALTORS® to promptly take corrective action when they become aware that information posted on one of their websites, including their blogs, Facebook or Twitter accounts, is no longer current or accurate.

• Potential Violation of NAR Code of Ethics Article 12.
Article 12 requires agents to present a “true picture” of the advertisement and to include their license number and contact information. Standard of Practice 12-5 provides an exemption from this disclosure requirement only when the advertisement is linked to a display that includes all required disclosures. When agents, REALTORS®, and brokers post one of their listings on a social media site, they must include all of the required information in order to be in compliance with Article 12.

• Advertising.
Any communication between a broker and the public is considered advertising. Therefore, postings on social media sites are considered advertising. There are factors that could possibly allow a posting on a site like Facebook to fall outside the realm of advertising; however, there is a fine line. It is safer to assume that any listing on any social media site is considered advertising and all state laws and rules must be followed.

Social media is a fast way for the busy agent, REALTOR®, and broker to disseminate information. All brokers need a social media office policy that specifically defines how agents and REALTORS® can use social media sites and to ensure that expired or sold listings are removed from any social media site.