Father and son Bart and Justin Smith of the Christian Real Estate Network(CREN) say their Christian referral site has never spammed Realtors or encouraged Realtors to work only with Christian buyers and sellers, a violation of Fair Housing rules.

"Our mission is to help people who want to find a Christian agent," says Bart Smith, a RE/MAX broker in Orange County, California and a founder of CREN. "That's why we exist. It is simple, straightforward. They (Christian buyers and sellers) want someone they can trust in a major transaction. They are scared, and they could be taken advantage of if someone doesn't have their best interest at heart."

Justin Smith says, "The purpose is to connect people. We never say we only work with Christians, for people who come to the network and people who aren't Christians, we want them to contact people they can trust. That's where our heart is. My dad wanted a starting point for people to trust their agents, and the agents will follow moral guidelines as outlined in the Scripture, and then we put a deal together."

Bart Smith explains that "spamming wouldn't work" for the CREN. "We don't try to get competing agents to be members. We don't want to overload an area. We look for highly experienced agents who are believers. If we have three leads to give out in a month in one area, then that is enough for one agent to handle."

CREN is membership-based, with referral fees of 25 percent and an annual fee of $149.95, says Justin Smith. "That's so we can pay for advertising costs up front. We advertise as a bunch of Christian agents and you can contact us, and you can get connected with Christian agents around the country."

Smith says the advertising includes Christian radio, Christian banner ads, and search engine placement.

Has an agent ever called who isn't a Christian? "We have the right to turn them down if they aren't a Christian. People come to us wanting Christian agents," replies Justin Smith.

But saying you are a Christian isn't a guarantee of ethical behavior. How does the site qualify the agents?

"We have a big application process, references, past clients, the people's church, a statement of faith to make sure we are getting the people we want," says Smith.

Some people may be offended by the exclusionary aspects of a religious referral system, according to mail received at Realty Times.

"I don't think they would be offended if there were a Jewish or Unitarian network, we are broad as far as denominations go," says Smith. "We want people who agree with the Bible. We have the right to be able to say who we can allow in the network or not."

But despite what appear to be the best intentions of the site's founders, Fair housing administrator Bill Thorne with the Las Vegas Association of Realtors says that any member should carefully read and understand what they are signing or agreeing to.

"When you go before a court with a contract," says Thorne. "The court will ask what will a reasonable and prudent person assume from the writing? A person can't say that's not what I meant to say, that they don't want other people. There may be Muslims or agnostics who would go to these Web sites but a reasonable person may take a look and say that doesn't sound right and that's where the problem is."

He points to several statements in the broker/agent area of the site that could be problematic:

• "The idea is to link up Christian Real Estate professionals with buyers and sellers across North America in order to help Brothers and Sisters in Christ to have smooth, satisfying results."
• "Buyers and Sellers can locate the Christian agents through our network and receive the benefits of working with fellow believers."
• "The Christian Real Estate Network advertises nationally on a variety of Christian radio stations and Christian Web sites to bring you Christian buyers and sellers of real estate."  
• "The opportunity to serve Christian buyers and sellers in your area."

"A reasonable and prudent person is going to assume that an agent joined this network to work with Christian buyers and sellers," says Thorne. "I would have less concern for members is there were a statement that said something to the effect that 'I understand that my obligation is to work with any buyer and seller in the community as well as Christian buyers and sellers."

The Smiths point out that they post a link to the Fair Housing Laws on the site's front page. Bart Smith says he has never been contacted by fair housing enforcement over www.hismove.com.

Published: December 17, 2002

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