Is it Time to Think about Evolving Past the Realtor® Code of Ethics?

A portion of the Realtor® Code of Ethics provided part of the legal justification for the $1.78 billion jury verdict against the National Association of Realtors® in October of 2023. The offending language (and its accompanying case study) could be surgically removed from Article 16 of the Code. Perhaps, however, we have blind spots about other problems with the Code? Over the decades the Code has tremendously benefited consumers and the brokerage industry, in part by influencing State regulation. Does the risk of other blind spots justify small (and sometimes confusing) differences between the Code and State regulation? This video [recorded one week prior to the public announcement of a settlement by N.A.R.] seeks to spark an exploration of this question.