SILVAR  :  Professional Standards  : File a Complaint

File a Complaint

Below are general Instructions for filing a disciplinary complaint. For further information, please call SILVAR at (408) 200-0100 to speak with a Professional Standards Administrator.

Disciplinary Complaint Form

Ethics Advocate Forms

2024 California Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual

2024 NAR Code of Ethics

  1. The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) has the authority or jurisdiction to investigate complaints only when they are written and formally filed with SILVAR against members of this association regarding possible violations of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Code of Ethics and/or SILVAR Bylaws.
     
  2. We encourage members of the public and REALTORS® to first contact the broker of the firm involved in the complaint and try to resolve the complaint prior to filing with the Association. In many cases the problem can be resolved at this point.
     
  3. The Association cannot compel payment of damages. These powers are reserved by law, for the courts. If you believe you have cause for civil action, you should contact an attorney. The Association cannot act as your private attorney in this matter.
     
  4. The complaint must be filed against an individual/member, not a real estate firm. This Association has disciplinary authority only against members of this association.
     
  5. The complaint must be filed within 180 days after the facts become known.
     
  6. Procedurally, after a complaint has been received, the Grievance Committee determines whether the complaint is a matter which should be referred to a Professional Standards Hearing Panel or be dismissed from further consideration because it does not meet the hearing criteria. The Grievance Committee is a review committee and does not conduct hearings or determine if a violation has occurred. If your complaint is forwarded for a formal hearing, you will be asked to appear.
     
  7. Sign Form D-1, "Disciplinary Complaint" and mail your complaint to SILVAR, attn: Grievance Committee. Special note, if any complaint received by the Association is also the subject of a review in civil litigation, the Association may hold the complaint in abeyance until all action, including appeal, is complete. If applicable, please resubmit the complaint after all other reviews are complete. If the complaint involved criminal litigation, the review must be held in abeyance.

Nature of Discipline

Disciplinary action may consist of one or more of the following:

  1. Placement of a Letter of Warning in the member's file for a specified period of time;
  2. Placement of a Letter of Reprimand in the member's file for a specified period of time;
  3. Imposition of a requirement for training;
  4. Designation of an appropriate and reasonable fine commensurate with the gravity of the determined violation not to exceed $15,000 per hearing;
  5. Imposition of probation for a stated period of time not to exceed one (1) year;
  6. Suspension of membership for a stated period of time not less that thirty (30) days and not more than one year;
  7. Expulsion from membership for a stated period of one (1) to three (3) years, with reinstatement to membership only by application for membership as a new member after the specified period of expulsion, with the application considered on its merits.

Member Disciplinary Information

For further information, please call SILVAR at (408) 200-0100 and ask to speak with a Professional Standards Administrator.

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