By Vicki Trapp, AHWD, ASP, CRS, GRI, SRES, SRS, President
Greater Chattanooga Association of REALTORS®
On occasion, REALTORS® send mass emails to their peers promoting a new listing. Or perhaps the REALTOR® sends an email to fellow agents to draw attention to a price reduction or an upcoming open house. Oftentimes, this practice is done at the request of a seller who is anxious to get more exposure for their listed home. Yet, the reverse may be happening – such emails very well may be a turn-off rather than a turn-on. In addition, if the email doesn’t adhere to certain requirements, it’s highly likely the sender is in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
The CAN-SPAM Act put certain requirements on “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” Violations of the Act are subject to penalties of up to $16,000 per email. No Seller wants to put a listing agent in such a position. And even without a Seller’s request to promote a listing via mass email, I encourage REALTORS® to tread carefully in this regard.
The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act, goes into detail on its website about the following requirements:
- Don’t use false or misleading header information.
- Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
- Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
- Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
- Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you.
- Honor opt-out requests promptly.
- Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company (or an assistant) to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law.
Even when all of the above-described requirements are met, we should consider whether mass emails get the anticipated results. The overriding consensus among REALTORS® is that a mechanism already exists to facilitate communication with fellow REALTORS® about available properties – a new listing, price change or open house. That mechanism is the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Often, I hear frustration from REALTORS® who do not read and/or immediately delete emails from fellow agents about property information that already is available and communicated through the MLS. Quite simply, they view these emails as spam.
In addition to being a means by which to offer cooperative compensation, the Multiple Listing Service is a collaborative tool for participating brokers to share listed property information with other participating brokers. Many MLSs, ours included, have a public portal by which consumers can learn about new listings and scheduled open houses. So for Sellers and REALTORS® who might feel the pressure to “get the word out” about a property, I encourage you to reconsider doing so via mass email. It’s hard to imagine a more effective tool than the MLS for staying on the right side of the law and communicating with fellow REALTORS® about properties.