About Dallas' Central Market Condos

I think it is a conflict of interest for an agent to serve on their HOA Board if they list or sell in that neighborhood or condo complex. Even if no improprity were to occur, the appearance of the possibility is clearly present.

Let's just talk about the ways that being on an HOA Board could cause trouble for an agent. For example at what point in the process of moving toward the vote on a Special Assessment would the obligation to disclose be triggered? What if all that has happened is informal discussion of the possibility of perhaps maybe doing a special assessment next year? What if it is clear that a special assessment will HAVE to be done in about 6 months, but the process hasn't begun yet. It is GOING TO HAPPEN, it just hasn't happened yet. Do you disclose something where you have certain knowledge that isn't a legal reality?

There is an old story that I read years and years ago, one of those Life In These United States kinds of paragraphs in Readers Digest. In the story, a school district was hiring bus drivers. They ask potential drivers how close could the driver safely get to the edge of a cliff. The driver who got the job answered that the right answer wasn't how close could she get to the edge, but how far away was she going to stay from the edge. With ethical issues, I want to hug the center line! I have no interested at all in approaching the edge.

Image courtesy of debs-eye via Flickr.com under a Creative Commons License. http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbcollins/