Citations (ethics traffic tickets)

The potential discipline table for citations is below.

Not all ethics articles are eligible for citations (e.g., serious violations, fair housing no citation).

Citations were developed primarily for advertising issues.

Generally, the average advertising citation (Article 12) is $350 and 4 hours of education.

South Carolina REALTORS® Citation Policy

This Citation Policy shall establish a Citation Panel, comprised of at least three (3) individuals, who will review complaints to determine eligibility for the citation program and the appropriate citations. It is recommended that the Citation Panel be a subset of the South Carolina REALTORS (SCR) Professional Standards Committee, and that the individuals on the Citation Panel have a high level of experience in hearing professional standards cases.

Complaints must be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days after the facts constituting the matter complained of could have been known in the exercise of reasonable diligence or within one hundred eighty (180) days after the conclusion of the transaction or event, whichever is later.

Citation Panels cannot cite violations based on Articles or Standards of Practice other than those spelled out in this policy, cannot impose fines in excess of those in the policy, and cannot be utilized more frequently than provided for in this policy.

Initial Review by Grievance Committee and Citation Panel

When a Grievance Committee receives a written ethics complaint, it will review the complaint consistent with the current NAR Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual. The Grievance Committee may add or delete articles or respondents at this stage in the proceedings.

If the Grievance Committee determines that the complaint should be forwarded for a hearing, the Grievance Committee will first forward the complaint to the Citation Panel to determine if it includes allegations covered by the Citation Schedule, i.e., if it is a “citable offense”.

If the complaint does not include alleged violations included in the Citation Schedule, or it includes some covered by the Citation Schedule and some that are not, the complaint shall be referred to the Professional Standards Committee for hearing consistent with the policies and procedures set forth in the Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual for ethics hearings.

If the complaint includes only allegations of violations included in the Citation Schedule, the Citation Panel will issue a citation and impose discipline consistent with the SCR Citation Schedule. In the event the members of the Citation Panel determine the conduct described in the complaint is sufficiently egregious to warrant a hearing rather than a citation, the complaint shall be referred to the Professional Standards Committee for hearing consistent with the policies and procedures set forth in the Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual for ethics hearings.

Issuance of Citations

Citations will be sent to respondents. A copy of the citation shall also be sent to the REALTOR® principal of respondents’ office. If the respondent changes firms before or after the complaint is filed but before the citation is issued, both the former and current REALTOR® principal will receive a copy of the citation.

Staff will prepare a written summary of the complaint and the summary will be included with the citation, including the identity of the complainant, to give the respondent sufficient information to understand the basis of the citation.

The respondent will have twenty (20) days from receipt of the citation to request a full due process hearing on the complaint.

If the respondent does not reply within ten (10) days of receiving the citation, a notice shall be issued to the respondent reminding the respondent of the deadline for requesting a hearing.

If the respondent accepts the citation, or if the respondent does not request a hearing within twenty (20) days of receipt of the citation, this shall be deemed to be a final resolution of the complaint, which shall not be appealable or subject to any further review.

If the respondent accepts the citation, or if the respondent does not request a hearing within twenty (20) days of receipt of the citation, payment must be received by the SCR no later than five (5) days after the date of acceptance or time period to request a hearing has elapsed.

The case will be deemed to be closed upon receipt of payment, and notice will be provided to the complainant that a citation has been issued and paid.

Failure to pay the citation amount within five (5) days after the date of acceptance or after the time period to request a hearing has expired will result in the automatic suspension of membership until the citation has been paid.

If the respondent requests a hearing within the time specified, the complaint shall be referred for hearing. The complainant who initially filed the complaint shall be given the option to proceed as the complainant for the purposes of the hearing, and will be afforded all due process rights provided for in the Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual. Should the complainant be a member of the public who refuses or is unable to participate in the hearing, or should the complainant be a REALTOR® member who refuses or is unable to participate in the hearing, the provisions in the NAR Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual shall apply.

Limitations

Any REALTOR® is limited in the number and type of citations that he/she may receive, according to the following rules:

No more than two (2) citations will be issued to a member within a consecutive twelve (12) month period, starting on the date the first complaint was filed.

No more than three (3) citations will be issued to a member within a consecutive thirty-six (36) month period, starting on the date the first complaint was filed.

No additional citations are permitted where the cumulative fine for the citations issued would be more than $5,000 in any three (3) year period.

In the case of a repeat offender an escalating fine schedule may be used. The citation panel may only consider the past citations for the particular conduct alleged in the complaint and may only propose an escalated citation if the SCR citation schedule allows for it.

The fact that a respondent has previously been issued a citation for any violation – whether or not it was paid – shall not be admissible in any ethics or arbitration hearing, including a hearing to consider a complaint where the respondent rejected a citation and requested a hearing. A hearing panel may consider citations previously issued to the respondent for the purpose of determining appropriate discipline as provided in Subsection IV below.

Citations will not be considered in any publication of violations should such rules be adopted by SCR.

Where a hearing panel finds a violation of the Code of Ethics after a hearing, it may consider past citations in determining an appropriate sanction only if the citation was issued for the same violation at issue in the hearing. By way of example, if a citation was issued for a Standard of Practice of a give Article that citation could not be considered if a hearing panel later found a violation of that Article unless it was related to the same Standard of Practice which the Respondent had previously been cited for. Hearing panels will not be informed of past citations for other violations not related to the hearing.

SCR staff will track the number of citations issued, the number of citations paid, and the violations for which citations were issued. This information may be provided in the aggregate to the Board of Directors, but will not include details about the complaints, nor identify the complainants or respondents.

South Carolina REALTORS® Citation Schedule of Fines

	Applicable Article and Standard of Practice	Fine	Ethics Training available in lieu of or in addition to fine?
Article 1
Failure to fully disclose and obtain consent from both parties when representing both the seller/landlord and buyer/tenant in the same transaction	Article 1, supported by Standard of Practice 1-5	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Failure to submit offers and counter-offers objectively and as quickly as possible	Article 1, supported by Standard of Practice 1-6	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failure to advise sellers/landlords of information specified in Standard of Practice 1-12 prior to entering into a listing contract	Article 1, supported by Standard of Practice 1-12	$250	2 hours CE
Failure to advise buyers/tenants of information specified in Standard of Practice 1-13 prior to entering into a buyer/tenant agreement	Article 1, supported by Standard of Practice 1-13	$250	2 hours CE
Accessing or using, or allowing others to access or use, a property managed or listed on terms other than those authorized by the owner or seller	Article 1, supported by Standard of Practice 1-16	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Article 3
Failure to communicate a change in compensation for cooperative services prior to the time that REALTOR® submits an offer to purchase/lease the property	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-2	$350	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
As a listing broker, attempting to unilaterally modify the offered compensation with respect to a cooperative transaction after a REALTOR® has submitted an offer to purchase or lease that property	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-2	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense

Failing to disclose existence of dual or variable rate commission arrangements	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-4	$250	2 hours CE
Failure to disclose to cooperating brokers differential that would result in dual or variable rate commission arrangement if sale/lease results through efforts of seller/landlord	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-4	$250 1st Offense $350 2nd Offense	2 hours CE 1st Offense 4 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failing to disclose existence of accepted offers, including offers with unresolved contingencies, to cooperating brokers	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-6	$250 1st Offense $350 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Misrepresenting the availability of access to show or inspect a listed property	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-8	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Providing access to listed property on terms other than those established by the owner or the listing broker	Article 3, supported by Standard of Practice 3-9	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Article 4
Failing to disclose REALTOR®’s ownership or other interest in writing to the purchaser or their representative	Article 4 (second sentence)	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Article 5
Providing professional services without disclosing REALTOR®’s present interest in property	Article 5 (limited to present interest, not contemplated)	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Article 6
Accepting any commission, rebate, or profit on expenditures without client’s knowledge or consent	Article 6 (first paragraph)	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Failure to disclose to a client or customer REALTOR®’s financial benefits or fees received as a direct result of recommending real estate products or services	Article 6 (second paragraph)	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered

Failure to disclose REALTOR®’s direct interest in an organization or business entity when recommending to a client or customer that they use the services of that organization or business entity	Article 6, supported by Standard of Practice 6-1	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Article 12
Failing to present a true picture in real estate communications and advertising	Article 12	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failing to disclose status as real estate professional in advertising and other representations	Article 12	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Failure to provide all terms governing availability of a “free” product or service in an advertisement or other representation	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-1	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failure to disclose potential to obtain a benefit from third party when REALTOR® represents their services as “free” or without cost	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-2	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failure to exercise care and candor when communicating the terms and conditions of premiums, prizes, merchandise discounts or other inducements to list, sell, purchase, or lease	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-3	$350 1st Offense $500 2nd Offense	4 hours CE 1st Offense 6 hours CE 2nd Offense
Advertising property for sale/lease without authority of owner or listing broker	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-4		Not offered
Failing to disclose name of firm in advertisement for listed property	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-5	$250 1st Offense $350 2nd Offense	2 hour CE 1st Offense 4 hours CE 2nd Offense
Failing to disclose status as both owner/landlord and REALTOR® or licensee when advertising property in which REALTOR® has ownership interest	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-6	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Falsely claiming to have “sold” property	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-7	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Failure to take corrective action when it becomes apparent that information on a REALTOR®’s website is no longer current or accurate	Article 12, supported by second sentence of Standard of Practice 12-8	$250	2 hours CE
Failure to disclose firm name and state of licensure on REALTOR® firm website	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-9	$250	2 hours CE
Misleading consumers through deceptive framing, manipulating content, deceptively diverting internet traffic, or presenting other’s content without attribution or permission	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-10	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Registering or using of deceptive URL or domain name	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-12	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Representing that the REALTOR® has a designation, certification, or other credential they are not entitled to use	Article 12, supported by Standard of Practice 12-13	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered
Article 14
Failing to cooperate in a professional standards proceeding or investigation in circumstances when cooperation has been demanded by the association and association has advised REALTOR® failure to cooperate could result in an allegation of a violation of Article 14	Article 14		Not offered
Article 16
Conditioning submission of a buyer’s offer on additional compensation from a listing broker	Article 16, supported by Standard of Practice 16-16		Not offered
Placing for sale/lease sign on property without permission of seller/landlord	Article 16, supported by Standard of Practice 16-19	$500 2nd Offense Not Offered	6 hours CE 2nd Offense Not Offered

Posted by: Byron King on 1/27/21 (This information is only accurate as of 1/27/21. You must contact SCR for updates and changes to this information after 1/27/21 as laws and regulations may change over time. SCR 803-772-5206 or email info at screaltors.org)