The finders-keepers myth

Q. Recently, I was the cooperating broker on a sale. The listing broker was a real bear to work with. Frankly, he treated me like dirt--and I did all the work. At the closing, I realized he''d calculated the commission wrong and cheated himself out of some money. I kept my mouth shut. Should I have told him?
Name Withheld

A. This is a variation on a finders-keepers situation. Think back to the lessons of your childhood or to when you were raising your own children. A stranger is walking by in the park. You notice that an envelope falls out of the stranger''s pocket.

Before the stranger is out of sight, you pick up the envelope (which is open) and find $50 in it. Do you pursue the stranger or just let the stranger keep walking? What if you find an envelope with $50 on the street corner, and the envelope has a return address on it? What if you find it in a place like a grocery store? Do you turn the money over to the store manager or keep it? What if, instead of $50, the item is a watch, ring, or something else of value?

In each of those scenarios, the question to ask is, Is the money [or the watch or the ring] mine? And the answer is no. The rightful owner''s character or lack thereof is irrelevant.

What would I do in your situation? I''d grit my teeth and tell him.

Q. In a recent issue of REALTOR® Magazine, there was an article about investing in rental properties. A landlord said that, before buying a property, she ran For Rent ads to gauge rental demand in given neighborhoods. Is that ethical? Those in my office felt she was fooling the public by offering something she didn''t have. The number of times we''ve called about ads to find the property not available has really been frustrating.
Cathy Young, Brad Neuhaus Real Estate, Scottsdale, Ariz.

A. I understand your frustration. In this particular case, I''d need to know the exact wording of the ad to determine how far inside or outside the ethical boundaries it fell. Article 12 of NAR''s Code of Ethics requires that REALTORS® present a "true picture" in their advertising and representations. If, for example, the ad said, "Homes for rent in Briarwood. Call Ace Realty, 555-5555," and the company did have at least some homes for rent in that neighborhood, I don''t see a problem.

But if it said, "For Rent: 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in Briarwood. Call Ace Realty, 555-5555," and no such property was hers for the offering, you''re correct in thinking the situation dicey. If I were a member of an ethics hearing panel, my vote would be that this didn''t present a "true picture" and was in violation of the Code. Furthermore, I''m pretty sure local consumer protection laws, truth-in-advertising statutes, and state license laws and regulations would also have something to say in this matter.

To me, it''s really pretty simple: Don''t run the ad if you don''t have what it says you do!

Aydt is senior vice president and general counsel of Prudential Alliance, REALTORS®, St. Louis, and a former chairperson of NAR''s Professional Standards Committee. He has also been honored as Educator of the Year by both NAR and the Missouri Association of REALTORS®.