10/20/2026
Integrity Is Not for Sale
Recently, I made the difficult but necessary decision to end a listing relationship after being asked to participate in conduct that conflicted with my professional, ethical, and legal responsibilities as a Real Estate Broker.
A seller may be my client, and I owe that client loyalty, confidentiality, reasonable care, diligence, and faithful representation within the bounds of the law. But fiduciary duty does not mean blind obedience. A broker cannot lawfully or ethically misrepresent a property, conceal material facts that must be disclosed, provide false or misleading information, or assist a client in deceiving another party.
When I was asked to withhold or misrepresent information concerning the property, I refused.
I explained that this is not how I conduct my business. I believe in transparency, honesty, and fair dealing. My obligation to protect and promote my client’s legitimate interests does not permit me to cross the line into deception.
Maryland real estate law requires licensees to deal fairly and honestly with all parties, to respond truthfully to questions, and to disclose material facts relating to a property that are known or should be known. Likewise, Article 2 of the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts concerning a property or transaction.
There is an important distinction between confidential information, which an agent generally has a duty to protect, and material facts that the law or professional standards require to be disclosed. Confidentiality is not a license to participate in deception. Maryland law itself recognizes duties of confidentiality while separately imposing duties of honesty, truthful responses, and disclosure of material facts.
So I chose to walk away.
I requested a mutual termination of the listing agreement and informed the seller that he was free to seek representation elsewhere. As part of the mutually agreed termination of the listing agreement, the seller paid the agreed-upon cancellation fee in accordance with our arrangement. My decision to end the representation, however, was not about compensation, it was about refusing to compromise my legal, ethical, and professional responsibilities. I would rather lose a listing, a commission, or an entire transaction than compromise the integrity upon which my profession, my reputation, and my faith are built.
No commission is worth exchanging integrity for.
As a Broker, my responsibility is not merely to close transactions. It is to conduct them lawfully, ethically, honestly, and professionally. A successful closing obtained through concealment or misrepresentation is not success at all.
My responsibility to a client ends where dishonesty begins.
The Gospel gives us an even higher standard:
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”
-Matthew 7:12
And the wisdom behind the Filipino saying depicted in this artwork remains timeless:
“Ang panlalamang sa kapwa ay gawaing masama.”
“To exploit one’s neighbor is an evil deed.”
In real estate, as in life, character is revealed not when doing what is profitable is easy, but when doing what is right costs us something.
Properties can be replaced.
Transactions can be replaced.
Commissions can be replaced.
Integrity cannot!
-Armando D. Liban, REALTOR® / Broker
EagleWings Realty
