Professional Standards for Real Estate Brokers

Part I

Professional Ethics

 Chapter 1

General Provisions

§ 1.

The Real Estate Broker, hereinafter referred to as "the Broker" should be driven by the principles of professional ethics. The rules of professional ethics of a Broker ensue from the generally accepted moral standards and ethical principles.

 § 2.

The Broker should act and behave in a manner so as protect interests of clients who contracted his agency services and observe the principle of equal treatment of all parties of the transaction.

 § 3.

The Broker should remain loyal to a persons who contracted his agency services and not let them be deceived in relying on their trust

 Chapter 2

Professional Reliability

§ 4.

The Broker shall observe provisions of the law and professional standards.

 § 5.

The Broker shall exercise due diligence in performing the agency activity.

§ 6.

The Broker shall refuse to perform any agency activity which would appear to be contrary to the provisions of the law or professional standards.

Chapter 3

Competences and Professionalism

§ 7.

When carrying out the agency activity, the Broker should be guided by the current marketplace trends.

§ 8.

The Broker should not undertake to perform any actions reaching beyond his knowledge and professional expertise.

Chapter 4

Professional Secrecy

§ 9.

All and any information obtained by the Broker in association with the agency activity is subject to professional secrecy. In particular, information obtained during performance of professional activity shall not be conveyed to third parties. The secrecy shall not be binding when providing information proving indispensable for proper performance of a service, or any information that may exert any impact on safety of the transaction.

Chapter 5

Prestige of the Profession

§ 10.

The Broker should ensure that his relations with other Brokers are based upon the principles of fair competition, loyalty, and respect. 

§ 11.

The Broker shall not behave in a manner contrary to the interest of the company owner employing him and in particular the Broker shall not convey, disclose or use any secret information of the company as described by the act of 16 April 1993 on combating unfair competition (Journal of Law of 2003 No. 153 item 1503 with subsequent changes).

§ 12.

The Broker shall not abide by instructions of the employer which are contrary to the provisions of the law or Professional Standards. 

§ 13.

The Broker shall not disseminate any false or misleading information concerning other Brokers, his own or any other company, the business owner or business practices applied by them.         

§ 14.

The Broker should support the activities of professional organisations and contribute to ensuring high prestige of the profession.

§ 15.

The Broker should strive for eliminating in his environment any practices contrary to the laws and/or professional standards, or ones transgressing his profession’s dignity. 

§ 16.

The Broker holding any posts in a professional organisation may not use such a position for satisfying his own needs.

Part II

Professional Standards

§ 17.

The Broker renders his services based upon a written listing agreement concluded with the client. Such agreement includes the first and family name of the Broker professionally accountable for providing the service, his professional license number and the Broker’s statement concerning possession of the civil liability insurance covering damages caused in relation to performance of professional activity. The scope of agency activities shall be determined by the agreement.

§ 18.

The role of the Broker consist in collecting and providing information necessary for third parties to conclude contracts described in article 180 clause 1 of the Real Estate Market Act [Ustawa o gospodarce nieruchomościami] regarding economic and market conditions for, and the method of implementation of, the requested service, undertaking actions aimed at searching for a contracting party, matching the parties, arranging property viewing, as well as, should the customer wish so, taking part in negotiations, providing assistance toward concluding a transaction by undertaking relevant organisational actions, unless otherwise provided for by the agreement. 

§ 19.

The Broker shall not advertise for sale, lease, or other transaction, any real property as to which he has previously not entered into a listing agreement, apart from instances ensuing from special reconciliations between brokers or business owners.

§ 20.

Any advertisement, print, written or oral piece of information provided by the Broker should be in conformity with the actual and legal status quo known to the Broker and should be consistent with regard to the fee charged. Advertisements published in the Internet shall include license number of the Broker professionally accountable for providing the service. 

§ 21.

The Broker shall document all and any actions taken in association with implementation of the listing agreement.

§ 22.

The Broker shall always reveal his status of a broker whilst performing agency activities. In any location where the professional activity is conducted the Broker shall display in a visible place a certificate confirming possession of a professional license for real estate Brokers.

§ 23.

The Broker shall not make to the client any untrue representations concerning the possible property selling price or lease payment.

§ 24.

The Broker may render brokerage services to the benefit of both parties to a transaction subject to obtaining their written consent.

§ 25.

The Broker shall not offer agency services below the cost actual of its provision nor present them as being free of charge.

§ 26.

When the fee is charged only from one party to the transaction such information together the indication which party is charged shall be included in the advertisement.

§ 27.

Prior to conclusion of the listing agreement containing an exclusivity clause, the Broker shall notify the client of the consequences ensuing from such a clause and signing such agreement.

§ 28.

Prior to concluding a listing agreement, the Broker shall find out from the client whether the real property is not a subject of a previously concluded listing agreement with an exclusivity clause.

§ 29.

The Broker who has entered into a listing agreement with an exclusivity clause shall strive for exposing the subject property to a reasonably most extensive degree possible, and shall not render difficult the access to information on the subject property.

§ 30.

When the Broker performing agency activities and representing the party listing the property introduces other Broker to the client, further contacts of the other Broker with the client concerning the listed property should be maintained only subject to the informed consent of the Broker who introduced the other Broker.

§ 31.

The Broker shall not induce the client to terminate, change or fail to perform listing agreements concluded beforehand. 

§ 32.

The Broker shall be entitled to make general offers presenting the scope of services rendered also to individuals who have concluded an exclusivity agreement with another Broker, provided that such offers constitute part of a broader promotional action.

§ 33.

In case co-operation has been entered into by Brokers, the actual amount of the fee earned and manner of its distribution should be agreed in writing upon entering into the cooperation.

§ 34.

The Broker who has received information on a property from another agency office, shall reveal, at his first contact with the seller, the source from which he has received the listing, whilst at the same time remaining particularly careful about securing the interests of the Broker who has provided the said information.

§ 35.

The Broker shall ensure that individuals under his direct supervision with whose assistance he performs the agency activities follow the principles resulting from provisions of the law and rules of conduct comprised in the Professional Standards for Real Estate Brokers. The Broker ensures such individuals obtain his written statement regarding performance of auxiliary activities under his supervision. The Broker is professionally accountable for actions and omissions of such individuals.

§ 36.

The broker performing the profession based on an employment contract or a civil law agreement with a company owner carrying out real estate agency activities should secure in the contract with the company owner he will have a real and factual influence on any agency activities performed while employed in the company, in particular influence on the content of advertisements posted by the company owner in association with agency activities performed by the Broker.

§ 37.

The Broker shall draw the other Broker’s attention to the latter’s conduct in case it breaches the rules of these Professional Standards for Real Estate Brokers.

Part III

Final Provisions

§  38.

Pursuant to article 5 of the Real Estate Act of 21 August 1997 [Ustawa o gospodarce nieruchomościami] (Journal of Law of 2004, No. 261 item 2603 with subsequent changes) these professional standards have been reconciled with the Minister in charge of the construction industry, housing and spatial planning. 

§ 39.

Professional Standards for Real Estate Brokers published by the Minister of Infrastructure on 28 April 2008 in the letter of notification regarding the reconciliation of professional standards for real estate brokers (Official Journal of the Ministry of Infrastructure No. 6 item 37) are revoked.