Chapter 4
Equal Professional Service
Learning Objectives: Know the criteria for equal professional service and evaluate specific real estate sales situations to apply these principles to practical real life circumstances.
Real estate licensees are required to provide equal professional service, without regard to a prospective buyer’s (or tenant’s) race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap. Areas where consistent service is required include, but are not limited to:
1. Greeting when entering or calling the office.
Example:
Prospect #1 enters a real estate office and quickly the agent at the front desk jumps up, warmly welcomes the prospect and invites the prospect to a conference room to discuss his home search.
Prospect #2 enters the real estate office and the agent glances up and then keeps working on the computer. The agent tells the prospect to help himself to a listing brochure and let her know if there are any questions.
Could this be a violation of fair housing laws? Possibly.
The real estate agent is required to provide equal professional service. If the agent wraps up what she is working on and then talks with Prospect #2, provides a warm welcome and appropriate information, then the service is consistent.
