1. 62 | jpm®
| May.Jun 2013
IREM insider / Know Your Code
CONFLICT BETWEEN
MULTIPLE INTERESTS
A conflict of interest does not nec-
essarily mean that you or your in-
terests are in conflict with those of
someone else. A conflict of interest
is when you and/or your firm have
multiple interests, which compete
with each other. As IREM Mem-
bers and designees, we must have
one sole interest, which is identical
to that of our client. We pursue that
which benefits our client, but we
do not come out the loser in this.
When our client’s interests are our
only interests, we are usually re-
warded with a continuation of our
client’s business—win-win.
RISK OF IMPROPRIETY
VS. ACTUAL CORRUPTION
Conflict of interest has been de-
fined as, “a set of circumstances
that creates a risk that professional
judgment or actions regarding a
primary interest will be unduly in-
fluenced by a secondary interest”
(Lo and Field 2009). Staying on the
right side of the law in your man-
the benefits and gifts that are some-
times offered to them by vendors
and tenants. If you have an employ-
ee handbook, put your conflict of
interest policy in there and make it
very specific—leaving no room for
gray areas. As for CPM and ARM
Members, Article 7 should always
be a part of your basic work eth-
ic—whether it’s a part of your com-
pany’s policy or not. If you spend
any time wondering if something is
okay for you to do, or if a gift is okay
to accept, chances are it’s not.
When an employer hires a man-
ager with an IREM designation,
that employer can rest assured that
its manager will adhere to the IREM
Code of Professional Ethics. Take
our Code seriously, and you will be
taken seriously, and we will all walk
with pride as IREM designees.
WHO LIKES CONFLICT? NOT ME.
Conflict is messy and sometimes doesn’t
end well. In fact, most of us like to avoid
conflict when we can.
ARTICLE 7 OF OUR CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATES:
“An AMO® Firm shall not represent personal or business interests
divergent from or conflicting with those of the client and shall not
accept, directly or indirectly, any material rebates, gifts, fees, com-
missions, discounts, or other benefits, monetary or otherwise, which
could reasonably be seen as a conflict with the interests of the client,
employer, or firm, and which are not disclosed to the client.”
agement does not necessarily mean
you have no conflict. Your firm can
be free of impropriety in all its ac-
tions and still have a conflict. The
essence of a conflict of interest is in
the potential to be influenced by a
competing interest.
In our dealings with (and on
behalf of) our clients, we must
certainly avoid impropriety, but
we must also avoid situations that
present the risk of impropriety.
And we must avoid the perception
of conflict or impropriety. That is
why Article 7 of our Code of Ethics
gives us the helpful list of things to
avoid—gifts, discounts, etc. When
we accept these monetary and oth-
er considerations from non-clients,
the risk they present to our loyalty
is, in and of itself, the conflict that
must be removed.
WHAT DOES THAT
MEAN FOR US AS CPM,
ARM AND AMO MEMBERS?
AMO firms should adopt a com-
pany-wide policy which prohibits
acceptance by any of its employees
LIZ WALKER, CPM,
(LIZWALKER@RELI-
ABLEPROPERTYMAN-
AGEMENT.NET) IS A
BROKER AT RELIABLE
PROPERTY MANAGE-
MENT IN SAN JOSE,
CALIF.
TO DOWNLOAD THE REAL LIFE
ETHICS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
REAL ESTATE MANAGER, VISIT
WWW.IREM.ORG/ETHICS.