As a Realtor, I take the professionalism of my industry very seriously. It’s OK to have fun, be jovial or light hearted. Let’s enjoy this business! But I do believe that we have to be professional, respectful of our clients’ information and privacy, and represent them well.

Which brings me to my soapbox.

I recently heard of an agent who was using their real estate contacts and database to send out invites to join a pyramid scheme. Seriously! They used the contact information to attempt to sucker their clients into joining one of those ridiculous scams.

It’s unethical. Using a person’s email/phone/Facebook/SMS/etc. to try to sucker them into a pyramid scheme should be fairly self explanatory. It’s a scummy way to act. Common sense would dictate against doing this; but I guess if common sense were more common these scams wouldn’t exist. Heck, I couldn’t even sell knives to family members when I was in university; I didn’t feel comfortable with it!

“Welcome to this lovely 3 bedroom home. It has a finished basement, 2 car garage, and great neighbors. If you buy today I’ll include a free membership to get you some great deals on some Amway products.” Maybe I’m being too critical, but I don’t think that’s very professional. We get paid to sell you home; not to sell your potential buyer some dish soap or scalped concert tickets!

As it turns out, it’s also illegal. I checked. The Canadian privacy laws don’t allow the gathering of people’s contact information for one purpose, and using it for another. By sending sleazy solicitations out to these people, this agent has breached these laws. As Realtors we can only contact the person for things relating to real estate; not pyramid schemes. If I ever received a call or email like that from my lawyer, doctor, or accountant I’d fire them… and probably contact the Privacy Commission in Ottawa to file a complaint. (So if my lawyer, doctor, or accountant are reading this… DON’T DO IT! You’ve been warned!!!)

But the big question is this: does this agent really need money so badly that they’ve been sucked into one of these scams? How comfortable would you be knowing that your Realtor, who’s giving you advise on what house to buy and where to spend 100’s of thousands of dollars, is desperate for money? Do you think their advise would be somehow influenced by that position? “BUY THE HOUSE! I NEED THE MONEY!” Yikes; I think I’d be running from that agent pretty quick. Which is why RECA, our governing body, watches bankruptcies very closely. If an agent goes bankrupt, their license gets reviewed. Why? Because desperate people shouldn’t be giving advise on financial decisions.

Let’s not forget that agents who do this make our entire industry look bad; an industry that is filled with really great people whom I enjoy working with on a daily basis. People who do this; they’re making us all look bad.

So there it is; I’m climbing down off of my soapbox.

What are your thoughts on all of this? Am I over reacting, or do you agree? Please leave your comments below, I’d like to hear from people on this one.