Okay, so pour yourself a strong cup of Java, pull up your iTunes, and enjoy the next installment of the ActiveRain Community Guidelines 'EXPANDED' version!
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This next guideline must've been inserted by our corporate lawyers. It sounds too much like one of those 'fine print' disclaimers...
- Do not violate any laws of your local jurisdiction. This includes all Fair Housing related laws.
Seems pretty straight-forward and obvious, right? One would think so. But ya know, as I observe our members conversing with one another, whether through their blog posts, or commenting on other member's articles, sometimes people say the 'darndest' things!
One area that tends to annoy me is in our "Q&A" Feature (it's one of the tabs right up above there).
In the past, when I've accessed this feature, I've gone straight to my home State of Washington, for the purposes of answering any questions left there by consumers. However, many times when I've done this, I find that the answers have already been provided by a fellow member from another State!
Now if it's a question that's general in nature, like "Who brews the strongest cup of coffee?" or "What's the best thing to use for crab bait?," then no problemo. Anyone can feel free to pipe in.
But if it's a specific real estate related question, why would you want to expose yourself to the potential liability of speaking 'out-of-turn?' I mean, seriously, we all have enough liability as it is, right?
For me, the basic rule of thumb is plain as rain - "If you're not licensed in a particular State, or you don't practice/offer services in that State, don't answer the question!" As basic as the question may seem, or regardless of how much you genuinely want to help out, don't answer. <stepping off soapbox>
Remember, that whatever you write/publish on the Internet can or will be used against you in a court of law!
And additionally, ALWAYS keep in mind the Federally protected classes, and not to use any words/language in your posts or comments that could be perceived as being discriminatory.
~ Now get out there and sell something!!! ~
Hi fellow Washingtonian! We are in Vancouver, WA. We just heard an interesting statistic last week, 1 in 56 in California had a Real Estate license in 2007. So with this in mind there maybe some agents out there that mean well but do not fully understand how they are putting themselves at risk. Thanks for taking the time to remind us all.
Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group
Rich,
Your post makes a lot of sense, and courteously too!!! When I was new on AR, I thrived on the Q&A sections...but then I saw how wide open we were leaving ourselves in expressing opinions we were not entitled to express...it down right scared me away!!! Thanks for the reminder, Fran
I have long since gone over there to look what's going on ...just for that fact. It is STILL going on in Hawaii....there are answers on specific HAWAII land questions that another state agent is answering!!!! How can that person say the majority of land is owned by a specific entitity! (you see why I don't go there? It really is frustrating to have these know it alls give wrong info!) There are .....agents from other states putting in "let me refer you to an agent in Hawaii" in the question section. I think that should be done away with. Let the consumer ask questions to an appropriate agent in their state instead of getting half a.... answers and junk. There's even crap like ...how do I insert my picture and etc. etc.
Rich...what can be done about this? This is soooo not what it was intended for.
Rich,
That was excellent! I can almost here you talk by the way you write, no nonsense!!! I have to constantly remind myself when I sit down to write a blog that I am speaking to a wide range of people, so read it over and make sure you are saying things that the GP won't get upset with.
Hi Rich,
I hope the ones who need to see this do, I always wondered why...btw, you sould like a Broker when you tell us what to do! ;)
Good morning, Rich. Being an attorney myself, I tend to agree with you that the genesis for your great posting might have come from your corporate attorneys. That said, it was a great idea for you to post this to remind everyone of the restrictions required by the Fair Housing Act. Moreover, and with respect to Active Rain itself, this posting should help it defend itself on the oft chance it ever gets sued by someone with an allegation of violations of the Fair Housing Act. Any forum where properties can be listed for sale is a potential target for advertising-related Fair Housing Act violations (e.g., Craigslist got sued), and this posting makes clear that Active Rain does not permit any advertising that is contrary to the law.
It was also a great reminder that laws vary state-to-state and city-to-city, and what might be permissible in one part of the country might be illegal in another part. People really do need to be careful in providing legal advice in their comments if they are not familiar with the laws of the locale at issue. They may unwittingly be giving the wrong advice and stir up some trouble.
Jason: Our Community Guidelines are pretty straight-forward and were designed to protect both our members and our network from potential difficulties, legal or otherwise.