WASHINGTON – Jan. 18, 2013 – A Florida Realtors News story last Friday focused on an official-sounding website – realtor-complaints.com – that apparently allows consumers to review their Realtor. Some Florida Realtors appear to have been targeted.

The site appears to post false negative reviews and offer to remove them if the Realtor pays a fee. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is investigating both the tactic and the site’s allegedly illegal use of the Realtor name and logo.

As online agent reviews grow, however, Realtors need to actively monitor their online reputation, according to NAR writer Stacey Moncrieff.

She suggests the following steps:

• Make sure all your profiles on social media sites, REALTOR.com, etc., are complete, up-to-date and consistent.

• Ask previous customers to review you in legitimate forums, such as Yelp and LinkedIn.

• Search Google and Yahoo for your name and your company’s name. Save each search as a browser favorite and check them daily.

• Sign up for Google Alerts and create a search using your name to be notified when your name appears in a search. Also set up alerts for variations of your name, your company name and other keywords.

• Ask customers where they search for information about real estate and other professionals.

• Correct errors quickly. Immediately contact an offending website and be willing to prove your case with information from your MLS or other sources. But don’t be tempted to pay to have information removed.

“It’s hard to imagine a legitimate site requiring you to pay to take down false information,” says Michael Thiel, an NAR attorney.

© 2013 Florida Realtors®