Freedom First REIA, Ltd.

Code of Ethics &
Standards of Practice

Freedom First's membership includes each member in an organization of people who are intent on expanding their knowledge of real estate investing and management.  In order to pursue these ends in a legal and ethical manner, ALL Freedom First REIA members will be held to a higher standard of ethical behavior. This includes, but is not limited to the following enumerated list of behaviors:

1. Members will act professionally as real estate investing and housing providers when dealing with tenants, the public, the media, government officials, and all others.
2. Members will not intentionally misrepresent any material fact in their business dealings, including their business dealings with other members.
3. Members will fully disclose their interest in any property and the nature of their interest when dealing with or engaging in transactions with other REIA members.
4. Members should keep themselves informed on matters affecting housing in their community, including local, state, and federal laws.  A violation of a local, state or federal law, as determined by the ethics committee, shall be a violation of these rules.
5. Members shall not engage in unprofessional conduct, including, but not limited to:
   1. a departure from or failure to conform to applicable federal, state or  local government rules or, if no such rule exists, to the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing in practice
   2. conduct likely to deceive, defraud or harm others;
   3. demonstrating a willful or careless disregard for the rights of others;
   4. any practice that is contrary to the ethical conduct appropriate to the profession;
   5. Knowingly aiding, assisting, advising or facilitating another in engaging in conduct which, if conducted by the member directly, would constitute a violation of these rules
   6. Engaging in false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading communications to any person regarding the individual’s education, training, credentials, experience or qualifications, or the status of the individual’s state permit, license or registration certificate;
   7. Making a false statement or knowingly providing false information to, or failing to cooperate with any investigation of, the Ethics Committee.
6. Members will be responsible to complete their own due diligence in all business dealings.
7. Members will not falsely malign, disparage, slander or in any other way adversely affect the reputation of other Freedom First members.  Nothing herein prevents the Freedom First member from truthfully communicating issues or pursuing disputes with other members.
8. A member(s) who wants the Association to take action against another member for what they perceive to be unethical behavior as defined in this document must present their case and evidence of unethical behavior to the President, in writing, for review. The President will refer the issue to the Ethics Committee, consisting of three (3) persons appointed by the President from the general membership who will serve on the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee shall be chaired by the President unless the President designates someone else to act as chair and unless the President is directly involved. The Chair of the Ethics Committee shall review each alleged violation of the Rules of Ethics that is brought to the attention of the Ethics Committee. If in the sole discretion of the Chair there is insufficient information upon which to base a charge of a violation of the Rules of Ethics or the allegations against the member are patently frivolous or inconsequential, or the allegations if true would not constitute a violation of the Rules of Ethics, the Chair may summarily dismiss the matter. The Chair shall report each such summary dismissal to the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is responsible for investigating each alleged breach of the Rules of Ethics and determining whether a member has failed to observe the Rules of Ethics in the Standards, and determining an appropriate sanction, and periodically assessing the Code of Ethics and recommending any amendments. The Ethics Committee will investigate and review the allegations, conduct hearings or engage in any evidentiary proceeding it deems as necessary to fully dispose of the complaint. The Ethics Committee will submit its findings and make a decision within 30 days. The Ethics Committee may levy fines, suspend membership or expel members who do not conform to the requirements of these rules.
9. Members and non-members alike will not be allowed to use the meetings, website or any other means to create a non-solicited list for any reason. A non-solicited list is described as follows; passing a list around for others to enter their contact information, using a bowl, box or other collection devise for people to drop their business cards in, collecting contact info from the website or other methods where a member or non-member might think that the list is being created or cards are being collected for Freedom First REIA.
   1. Members and nonmembers alike are encouraged to network and collect contact information personally and individually. Not by means of some sort of mass collection method as described above.
   2. If such a list is being created, Freedom First REIA has the right to confiscate it and the individual(s) responsible for generating such a list will be reprimanded and possibly banned from any future meetings or events.