Real estate agents who mistakenly labeled homes they were selling as eco-friendly were apparently confused by a new feature on the real estate listings.
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which covers homes in most of Western Washington, added an eCert feature last year so consumers could easily identify homes with green features.
In a Aug. 24 story, The Herald reported that the majority of Snohomish County homes for sale labeled as having verified green features didn’t. The mislabeled homes included a Lake Stevens property with an eight-vehicle RV building and a 1980 double-wide manufactured home.
“Theoretically, the multiple listing service is a database of information and they are responsible for noncorrupted information,” said Valerie Steel, owner of the first green-focused real estate company in the county.
Third-party verified homes are the greenest of green homes. The term means a home meets the certification requirements of one of three environmental programs: Built Green, Energy Star or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). That certification requires verification by a trained, independent inspector.
A week after the story, all but one of the mislabeled properties remained on the listing service.
Agents who mislabeled properties expressed confusion over the new green check boxes, particularly the “third-party verified” box.
“What does that mean?” said Arriette Burn, a Seattle Keller Williams agent with one of the mislabeled listings. She said she doesn’t remember checking the box. “I’m going to have to look into it. That box doesn’t ring a bell with me.”
Christopher Gough, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate in Lynnwood, expressed surprise that two of his listings were mislabeled as green. He said he hadn’t advertised the homes as green and he speculated his assistant may have accidentally entered the wrong information into the listing service.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said.
Isabel Ibarra, an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Everett, mislabeled a house listed for sale in Silver Lake. She said she initially thought checking the “third-party verified” box had nothing to do with green features.
“What we are saying is the buyer is free to verify everything,” she said.
Monica Beck, chief operations officer at the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, said when agents check that box, the listing service assumes the agents or their clients have the paperwork to back up that claim.
After a reporter contacted her about the mistakes, she spoke with several agents. The agents professed confusion, she said.
“That tells me we have a job to do,” she said. “We need to educate our members and help them understand the proper use (of the eCert boxes).”
She also said that agents inputing information have to check many boxes, and mistakes sometimes happen. Of the thousands of listings in the county, only a few agents got it wrong. The listing service will do more to educate agents in the future, she said.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
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