The real estate industry relies heavily on your cooperation with other members to provide exceptional service to your clients and represent the industry in a professional manner.
However, disputes and complaints about fellow members do arise and when they do, they are handled by the FVREB Professional Standards Department (PSD).
In Part 1 of Anatomy of a Complaint, we laid out six steps to help you avoid a complaint. In Part 2, we will walk you through what to do before you (decide to) file a complaint.
If you are thinking about filing a complaint against another member, you must speak to your Managing Broker first, as per Section 2 of the Rules of Cooperation. The PSD will not accept your complaint unless you have done this.
- Your Managing Broker must first contact the Managing Broker of the member you are complaining about to attempt to resolve the matter informally.
- If the matter remains unresolved, then file a written complaint with the PSD.
- A complaint form is available on FVREB Connect.
- The complaint must include all details about the matter and include relevant documents.
- The complaint must indicate that your Managing Broker first tried to resolve the matter with the Managing Broker of the member complained about.
- Your complaint must be endorsed by your Managing Broker.
Once you have satisfied the above requirements, the PSD will then send your complaint and any documents to the respondent and their Managing Broker. They are provided with 14 days in which to give a response.
Filing a complaint is a serious matter. If you file a complaint, be aware that the matter will proceed through the complaint process and the complainant will be required to testify as a witness at the hearing.
In Part 3 of Anatomy of a Complaint, we will break down the complaint process from receipt of the complaint to the appeal process. Read the full article from FVREB Professional Standards here.