Letter to the Editor I

Letter to the Editor

I am the marketing director of Dewey, Sellum, and Howe, a local real estate firm that has had a long and cordial relationship with your newspaper. For a long time all of the members of my firm, and particularly myself, have been avid readers. We have long been impressed by the fair and unbiased coverage of matters pertaining to the field of real estate, as well as your accuracy and thoroughness. We have used the newspaper as a resource, not simply for advertising our services, but also as a way of keeping abreast of developments in a rapidly-changing industry.

It was with great interest and appreciation that I learned of the newspaper's upcoming expose of unethical practices within the profession. It is necessary that such issues are brought to light, so the public understands how to tell the difference between an ethical and an unethical broker. Distrust of the real estate market is rampant, given the recent credit crisis and expose of unethical practices within the industry. Bankers, agents, and brokers have all come under fire nationwide, even at some of the most well-respected and trusted firms. Of course, only by bringing such practices to light can the public regain its confidence in the industry. Now members of the public can more easily identify what constitutes an ethical broker and an unethical broker, thanks to greater media coverage and scrutiny.

No firm, of course, is immune to problems. The editors are aware of the misconduct by two individuals at our firm, whose actions, I understand, are to be featured in the upcoming investigative series. I would like to offer my firm as a resource to the newspaper, to illustrate how firms can effectively discipline brokers who violate the law. I believe that the way in which these individuals were dealt with shows how a firm can use unfortunate actions by individuals to ultimate clarify and set higher ethical standards for others. These individuals were fortunately anomalies, but they caused the firm great angst in terms of the investigation and disciplinary procedures that ensued. A great deal of soul-searching was done on the part of the firm, but ultimately we emerged stronger as a result, and even more committed to quality customer service. The incident was also helpful in setting clearer guidelines as to what constitutes ethical behavior on the part of brokers.

One of the disadvantages of real estate is its individualistic nature -- even the best of firms can occasionally have difficulties with one or two proverbial 'bad apples.' However, as a firm, we are striving to create a sense of teamwork and a team ethic that we believe will become more popular in the industry as a model of running a firm.

If at any point during the story we can be of service to the newspaper, we would be happy to oblige. We have tried to put the incident behind us, but not the lessons we have learned. We would also be happy to allow a reporter to interview any of the other brokers at the firm, who have been working under the new ethical guidelines that were established as a result of this incident.