Illinois REALTORS® staff serves as the Professional Standards Administrator for 20 local associations. This means staffing regular meetings of the statewide and local association Grievance Committees, scheduling and attending ethics and arbitration hearings and administering mediation conferences.

When everything shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, I went into panic mode. I couldn’t imagine how our professional standards team would ever catch up on the scheduled ethics and arbitration hearings as well as those in the pipeline. At the time, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual did not allow virtual hearings.

The Illinois REALTORS® professional standards team members adapted quickly to conducting Zoom meetings and found the format had several advantages

Thankfully, NAR nimbly pivoted and amended the policy to allow virtual hearings. The Illinois REALTORS® professional standards team members adapted quickly to conducting Zoom meetings and found the format had several advantages including:

• Virtual meetings save time and money and increase safety by eliminating travel expenses and driving time.
• More members are willing to volunteer for virtual hearings, creating a larger pool of potential panel members.
• Virtual meetings provide easy access for members of the public to participate as complainants and witnesses.
• Participants seem much less nervous attending in their own spaces.
• Virtual hearings encourage less animosity between the parties.
• Participants seem more focused and prepared.

Virtual meetings do require several procedure changes, such as:

• Participants must participate using video and audio so the panel can assess demeanor and body language to the extent possible.
• Panel chairs must confirm that participants are in private locations where no one else can hear the conversations.
• Participants must not record the proceedings as that is within the scope of the professional standards administration team.
• Staff members must watch diligently to reconnect participants who drop from the platform.

From May 2020 through June 2021, Illinois REALTORS® professional standards team administered 82 virtual hearings and mediation conferences and will continue with the virtual format unless there are unusual circumstances. Sometimes things work out better when we’re forced to adapt.

For more information about the Ethics Citation Program go to: www.IllinoisRealtors.org/ethics.