A REALTOR® is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
The Code establishes time-honored and baseline principles that come from the collective experiences of REALTORS® since the Code of Ethics was first established in 1913. Those principles can be loosely defined as:
Loyalty to clients;
Fiduciary (legal) duty to clients;
Cooperation with competitors;
Truthfulness in statements and advertising;
and non-interference in exclusive relationships that other REALTORS® have with their clients.
To earn a designation, a REALTOR® a real estate agent has taken coursework and demonstrated specific skills, performance and knowledge in a particular area of the real estate industry.