The board of The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) has just approved a cross-jurisdictional "best practices" guidelines on Internet regulatory issues pertaining to the real estate industry.

This historic event marks the first time any real estate organization has addressed such a complex and wide-reaching issue as online behavior, particularly in a medium as unregulated as the Internet. It is also the beginning of a more pro-active ARELLO, an organization which will be taking much more of an aggressive stance in real estate consumer protection than it has in the past.

"We will be a leader in this area," said ARELLO's outgoing president Mike Gorham. "The key is in identifying licensing among jurisdictions. We will have the first national and international licensee database."

"It's been a very exciting year for ARELLO and what we have been able to achieve," continues Gorham. "I give so much credit to the many volunteers, such as Michael Russer, who acquainted us with the Internet."

Gorham explained that the new "Best Practices" guidelines are to replace the regulation of Internet advertising which were adopted about a year ago. "They were restrictive and not very flexible. We worked over the past few months on a broader framework for Internet activity. The states were very receptive to this kind of approach. It gave them a framework, without mandating they do anything in particular."

What do the guidelines mean for real estate practitioners and consumers? If the guidelines proposed by ARELLO are adopted universally in all states and provinces, it will give the real estate industry the opportunity to raise the standards of online conduct for its constituency, making it easier and more viable for brokers, agents, and other real estate professionals to migrate their services to the Internet. Consumers will have a standards of practice by which to hold real estate practitioners accountable for their behavior, including the opportunity to check for licenses by service providers on the Internet at ARELLO's new customer site, www.arello.com.

Although it can not impel any jurisdictions to incorporate the guidelines, ARELLO has a tremendous influence. By undertaking the extensive research and collaborative discussions to arrive at the guidelines, ARELLO has performed a valuable service for the various jurisdictions in the interest of consumer protection.

Serving as a consultant and providing key information and suggestions to ARELLO was real estate and Internet expert Michael Russer. Russer said, "Without a standard, what will happen is that each jurisdiction could be reactionary in their approach to dealing with online consumer complaints, resulting in quickly-executed but ineffective "Band-Aid" legislation. These guidelines are designed to address Internet regulatory issues that exist today and in the future as the Internet evolves. "

"It also represents a very collaborative effort among the jurisdictions in recognizing that the Internet is cross jurisdictional by definition, " added Russer.

Russer, who served as a consultant to ARELLO and helped draft the initial best practices guidelines drew from his book, "The Internet's Policies and Procedures ToolKit," the industry's first set of Internet policies and procedures for the real estate industry.

What is the impact on agents? The "Best Practices" Guidelines cover primary issues in four key areas:

Jurisdictional Intent - helps identify and outline licensee online activity and helps determine whether a licensee requires a license in any other jurisdiction and if so, that they are subject to the laws of that jurisdiction. Jurisdictional Intent will help to monitor and control service providers known as "relo fishers" who fail to disclose where they are actually located in order to solicit business in that area, and collect a referral fee. Web sites which employ this method are implying to the consumer that they can do business in that area, when they may not be licensed to do so.

Licensed Entity Disclosure - real estate professionals must disclose whom they represent. ARELLO has set up a definition of terms.

Active Solicitation - when real estate professionals contact someone online, what constitutes active solicitation?

Online Listings - deals with the timely and accurate posting of listings, primarily keeping listings current, a problem with third-party listing service providers. ARELLO recommends posting a date when the information on the listing was last updated. Licensed entities should not advertise other listings without written permission. ARELLO has found instances in which some agents have taken listings from their MLS and removed the names of the listing agents.

According to Russer, one of the biggest complaints registered by consumers is that the information on listings is old or inaccurate. He says that when brokers adopt XML (a universal Internet language,) this won't be as much of an issue.

He explains, "ARELLO is in the consumer protection business, they are not in the broker dispute business. If you have another broker scraping listings, it is a consumer protection issue. Some consumers only want one broker to handle their listings.

What is the advantage to jurisdictions adopting the guidelines? "Everybody plays by the same rules," responds Russer. "It smoothes things out to use the Internet to its fullest potential. If everybody is playing by the same rules, you can open up the creative sandbox in terms of innovation, without stepping over the line. You don't have to worry about other special circumstances, and it encourages the use and growth of the Internet."

"You will see ARELLO come more to the forefront in dealing with issues," forecasts Gorham, who will remain on the ARELLO board. "you will see a lot more that relates to the international way business is transacted. We have been an organization of individual jurisdictions,a nd now we are finding the need to share information and develop a framework in which international transactions can be conducted more easily and with consumer protection in mind."

The approved "Best Practices" guidelines can be downloaded at www.arello.org.

Published: October 25, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.