At the core of the standards is the concept of "100 percent loyalty, 100 percent of the time" -- a direct slap at buyer representatives who become dual agents or facilitators during the evolution of in-house transactions.

The NAEBA standards were adopted at the group's midyear meetings Sept. 15-17 in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax, Va. More than 50 board members attended.
 
Wide Adoption Sought
Group executives are hopeful the NAEBA standards, considered more rigorous than those of the National Association of Realtors, will be adopted by legislatures, courts and even the federal government as the benchmark of performance for real estate agents representing homebuyers.

"Approval of these professional standards is a milestone for several reasons," said Leo Berard, NAEBA president and an exclusive buyer broker on Cape Cod, Mass. "They establish us as a professional association. The standards are based on the full-agency concept to serve a client with 100 percent loyalty, 100 percent of the time."

The standards, which will be followed by a Code of Ethics, define the responsibilities of buyer agents from the beginning of a deal to the end. They prohibit NAEBA members from becoming dual agents or facilitators at any point in the deal.

Although not referring to the NAR by name, Berard chastised the "other national association" for "weakening (the real estate industry) service standards by abandoning the common law of agency that's been the underpinning of our industry."

"The other association is trying to disengage from owing fiduciary duty to clients and setting up a situation of 'bait and switch.' Customers come into the offer and are promised full fiduciary service, but if a conflict of interest arises and they want to sell their listings, they abandon their client.

"As a dual agent you cannot legally give aid in negotiations, offer opinions of value, provide counseling, help with home inspections, find mortgages. These are all things the client needs and expects when they hire a real estate agent."

Berard described NAEBA, which is less than a year old and has only 300 members, as "willing to step up to the plate to the point of putting it in writing. We've gone on record that there needs to be 100 percent loyalty, 100 percent of the time. We feel there is a clear contrast between what we offer and what I see as industry efforts to downgrade service."
 
NAEBA: NAR Standard Too Low
Exclusive buyer brokers, who decline to take listings, have long complained that NAR standards of practice essentially allow anyone to call themselves a "buyer representative." Critics argue the NAR has intentionally kept standards low so that anyone with a real estate license may join the group, which has more than 700,000 members.

Berard said NAEBA is in the process of printing its standards, after which they will be mailed to real estate regulators nationwide, the Federal Trade Commission consumer groups, real estate attorneys involved in litigation and to attorneys general offices around the country.

Following that distribution, Berard said, public relations efforts would begin to win over the marketplace.

"We think consumers will want to know there is a choice," Berard said. "We feel our standards will have some consumer appeal."

During the meetings the NAEBA board also moved closer to approving criteria for a yet-unnamed buyer agency designation. Final approval of the education and experience requirements could come by the beginning of October.

Some insiders worry that the designation requirements are too high -- it could take as much as two years to win designation. A compromise that could allow some veteran buyer brokers to receive the designation within six months was in the works.

The board also voted to move the site of the 1996 second annual convention to Dallas instead of Las Vegas. The meeting initially had been set for Las Vegas in the hope of attracting a higher attendance, but was moved to Dallas because it is more economical. The meeting is set for February.