An overwhelming percentage of readers think ethics violations should have stricter punishments, although only 40 percent of agents have encountered someone trying to do one of the most unethical things an agent can do: someone stealing their listing.

“As for ethics complaints, it all depends on the case. We should be more like a court system so that we can look back at similar scenarios to have an idea of how each was handled. This gives us a direction to go with.” BARRY ADLER, CHARLES RUTENBERG REALTY

“In my opinion, the ethics violations that should be most vigorously pursued are those that have led to harm to members of the public, particularly against those agents who seek to find short sales for ‘floppers’. It would seem that the cheats and cons of the early to mid-2000s are still around, seeking different scams to run.” KIM NOONAN, RE/MAX ALL PROPERTIES

“As the market continues to bottom out, some of the ‘bottom-feeders’ have luckily left us. However, some of the remaining agents have become desperate. I have taught my agents to absolutely let the offending agent know that they have crossed the line and why.” NICK LIBERT, EXIT STRATEGY REALTY