PROFESSIONALISM
The term Realtor® can only be used by licensees associated with the National Association of Realtors.® The
Realtor® designation has come to connote competency, fairness, and high integrity resulting from adherence
to a lofty ideal of moral conduct in business relations. The National Association, California Association, Local
Associations and its members have adopted a code of ethics and professional standards of practice, which
establish obligations that may be higher than those mandated by law. In any instance where the Code of Ethics
and the law conflict, the obligations of the law take precedence. The Realtors® code of ethics can be read in
full by following this Internet link:
http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code.
Staying Informed
Regardless of the real estate licensee’s professional association, membership or status, licensees must keep
current with changing real estate laws, technological changes, and trends impacting the broad field of real
estate. As one of many examples, The Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) and the Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, commonly known as E-sign, impact the real estate brokerage
business. The Internet and e-mail are becoming a common means for conducting the real estate transaction
itself.. With the passage of the UETA and E-sign, transaction processes that were once consider legally or
technically beyond reach are now possible.
The Department of Real Estate’s web site
http://www.dre.ca.gov is a good source of current information. For
members of the California Association of Realtors® the web site
http://car.org is another source of current
information and interpretation.