Respect others and be respected

2015-01-05

Estate agencies Company A and Company B are adjacent shops.

One day, Agent A from Company A accompanied his client to view a property. They passed by Company B on the way to the site.

The client stopped at Company B and took a glance at the advertisements in its window. Agent B of Company B came out of the shop immediately and attempted to hand him advertising leaflets.

The two agents then started arguing with each other.

Agent B scolded Agent A in a public place with abusive language in front of the client. The abusive language used by Agent B gave an unpleasant impression to people that there is a lack of courtesy and mutual respect in the trade.

His behaviour tarnished the public image of the trade.

In this case, Agent B failed to comply with paragraph 3.7.2 of the Code of Ethics issued by the Estate Agents Authority, which states that members should avoid any practice that may bring discredit and/or disrepute to the trade.

As a result, the license of Agent B was suspended for seven days.