Can I Share Negative Info About Another Brokerage Firm or Licensee?

ORLANDO, Fla. — Question: I am a Realtor®, and a buyer came to me after signing a nonexclusive showing agreement with another brokerage firm for one property. She doesn’t plan to submit an offer on that property, and the brokerage firm is pressuring her to sign an Exclusive Buyer Broker Agreement (EBBA). She had a few questionable interactions with that firm and wanted to know if I had any insight that could help them decide whether to sign an EBBA. Are there any legal or ethical issues I should think about before responding? For context, I’ve had a few negative experiences with this firm and believe they have a poor to middling reputation.

Answer: Yes. There are recommendations, rules and laws that can come into play if you choose to share your thoughts about another real estate brokerage firm or professional, especially when some of it is negative.

As a starting point, the preamble to the National Association of Realtors® Code of Ethics (COE) recommends that Realtors “Refrain from making unsolicited comments about other practitioners.” In your situation, however, someone has asked for your thoughts, which is addressed next: “In instances where their opinion is sought, or where REALTORS® believe that comment is necessary, their opinion is offered in an objective, professional manner, uninfluenced by any personal motivation or potential advantage or gain.”

Note that this is not a requirement – just a recommendation and excellent piece of advice. For those who choose to go beyond it, here is when those comments could find you on the losing side of an ethics hearing or lawsuit.

Article 15 of the COE provides that “REALTORS® shall not knowingly or recklessly make false or misleading statements about other real estate professionals, their businesses, or their business practices.” Note that true statements could be okay, even if they are negative, although a member would be well advised to not embellish or stray from verifiable facts. The standards of practice under Article 15 clarify that this could include filing a false or unfounded ethics complaint or repeating false or misleading statements made by others.

In addition to the COE, there could be legal issues as well. Two types of defamation claims are slander and libel. Slander covers spoken words, while libel covers written words.

Legal defamation is similar to Article 15 but covers fewer cases. For example, damages aren’t required to succeed in a COE hearing, but they are required to win in court. The person claiming defamation needs to show that they have lost business, employment, suffered medical harm or other damages because of the false statement. Based on calls to the Florida Realtors® Legal Hotline, this is the most common hurdle to having a winning case. This is one of the elements required to file a successful claim, but there are others. In addition to having to prove damages, the person filing a complaint also needs to prove that the statement was shared with a third party, was false, made knowingly or recklessly and that it harmed someone’s reputation.

Additionally, there are a few defenses the person making a statement could argue in court, such as that it was just an opinion, was privileged or protected speech or it was a true statement. For this type of case, a potentially defamed party should talk to a lawyer to discuss strengths and weaknesses of any given fact pattern, as well as practical issues like cost and time to bring a case.

For any case or hearing, the specific words used are crucial to knowing whether someone ran afoul of the law or COE. While sharing negative information that is true may not violate the COE or law, members should be very careful to ensure any statements they make will hold up to scrutiny in any forum. Chances are high that someone who discovers that you said something negative about them will consider this an affront, even if you have a defense in a COE hearing or case.

Joel Maxson is Associate General Counsel

Note: Information deemed accurate on date of publication

© 2025 Florida Realtors®