RealTown's RealTalk

Tom Scaglione says:  A new twist to hijacking other agents/brokers listing…Zillow will allow anyone to claim a listing as theirs even if it is not….Here in the Tampa Bay market we have discovered three agents that have hijacked over 100 listings on the Zillow site. Example of a hijacked listing: Click here: Zillow - 12807 Wallingford Dr, Tampa, FL 33624

Look on the right hand side of the web page and you will see an agent listed there with a link to her info. She is not the agent, a good friend of mine with a RE/MAX office is the listing agent. What will they think of next?

Jim Cummings comments: IMO - calls for an ethics complaint.

Mark Jay makes a quick visit:

This is nothing new—the “hijacking” of listings. Jim Bourgoin has been doing this for quite some time. Go to his web site http://www.buyersadvantage4homes.com/ and click on the first link titled “Listing Search Hernando MLS Spring Hill Listings” then click on any of the links there. Here’s an example of one:

http://www.hernandomls.com/her/maildoc/sd_AAAa002TH20070521111234.html

It looks like he may have close to 1,000 “high jacked” listings -- all prominently branded with the colorful NAEBA logo (so much for the NAEBA not listing property) and containing his contact information, excluding the contact information of the listing broker.

When we had this discussion some moths ago Jim stated that he isn’t advertising those listings—he is disseminating information about those listings—so none of the advertising rules apply. He further stated he is in complete compliance with the MLS rules because the MLS allows him to hand out unbranded listing printouts to his clients and posting those same “printouts” electronically on his web site is the same thing.

Jim also reports that the leaders of his MLS approved his use of the MLS data base and that he doesn’t need the permission of the listing broker to disseminate their listings.