Could Your Real Estate Blog Be In Trouble With The FTC?
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Yes is the answer if you do ANYTHING on your blog that could be considered a quid pro quo. The Federal Trade Commission has instituted a regulation that anytime that you take a good or service from a vendor in exchange for doing a blog post about them, you could be liable for a fine of up to $11,000.
- So the free ticket to the county fair that you got and then did a blog post on? $11,000 to the FTC.
- Or the house painter that saved the closing by getting the rush job done which you then wrote a blog post extolling their virtue? $11,000 to FTC.
Now I am probably being absurd, but a government regulatory agency has essentially criminalizes the barter economy if you give any attaboys online. That is not the intent of the regulation. It is to go after those who write fake reviews for money, but the reality is that you are now open to prosecution if you offend the wrong person. As real estate professionals you are in a back scratching business. Giving kudos to your peers is the way things are done. Now it may be criminal if not full disclosed.
The idea that all of our behavior is in some way been criminalized is giving power to the government and the prosecutors is one that has been on my mind for a while.
If it were me I would not change how I write posts. The key is to be transparent and announce it in your blog post to be safe. So if you take the free ticket to the county fair and write about it, put that in your post in a fun way. Or if the house painter does a great job and bails you out, don’t just tell the world that she is a great painter, tell them they also got you out of a jam.
But do remember, the government has created another law that could be used by someone who does not like you to turn your life upside down. Again.
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Comment by Eddie on 7 October 2009:
Stop being such an alarmist. As you mentioned all the blogger has to do is disclose such. That’s all. What the heck is wrong with that? Way too many out there posting positive reviews pretending it’s totally objective and not telling anyone they received free goods or services from those connected with the product or service they are touting.
Comment by Bob on 7 October 2009:
Wow, While I’m sure that there are good intentions behind a law like this, I just can’t help thinking that there are better things to use our tax dollars on. There seems to be a kinship between people who blog and those who read blogs and I believe that the community can police itself.
Comment by Judy M Brooks on 7 October 2009:
I didn’t know that there were regulations like this on blog posts. Thank you for the post, its good to know.
Southlake TX Homes
Comment by Augusta Real Estate on 10 October 2009:
Transparency is key. It is sad the governement has to waste time and resources to pass a law regarding this issue. Just tell the truth, not a portion of it, and you will be fine.
Pingback by Weekly summary of real estate news, Memphis comments, and other interesting stuff – October 11th - Memphis Real Estate Buzz on 11 October 2009:
[...] Shared Could Your Real Estate Blog Be In Trouble With The FTC? : The Real Estate Bloggers. [...]
Comment by Lake & Town Realty on 12 October 2009:
Any Realtor with common sense should know that honesty (or in this case, full disclosure) is the best policy anyway. Still, it’s good to keep on top of what laws can affect us bloggers.
Comment by JW Najarian on 16 October 2009:
Transparency and disclosure are, of course, key to integris writing, but I can see the issue here. Law is not always about what is right or just. More often it is about taking advantage of the grey area.
Could it be also possible to get sued and then spend too much to defend yourself from a bogus suit?
Thank you for putting this out there. Here is an interesting link
http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal.
JW Najarian
CREPIG.com
JW
Comment by Andrew Jones on 16 October 2009:
I also have the same question. Just want to know what the old republic think about it.