Listing, Marketing, Advertising, and Fair Housing
Listing agreements
Exclusive right to sell (broker paid regardless of who procures the buyer), exclusive agency (seller may sell unrepresented and owe nothing), open listing, and net listing (risky, and to be avoided). Every listing needs price, term, compensation, and the brokerage's obligations in writing.
Advertising rules
Maine requires advertising to identify the registered brokerage name; blind advertising is prohibited. Licensee names, teams, and social media accounts must comply, and online ads are advertising. Obtain permission before using another's listing content, and be accurate about status (active, pending, contingent).
Fair housing
The federal Fair Housing Act protects race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. The Maine Human Rights Act expands coverage, adding ancestry, sexual orientation and gender identity, and source of income. Prohibited practices include steering, blockbusting, redlining, discriminatory advertising, refusing reasonable accommodations or modifications, and refusing vouchers. Disability rules cover assistance animals and unit modifications at the tenant's expense.
Worked example: An ad describing a home as 'perfect for a young couple, no children, walk to church' violates familial status and religion provisions. Rewrite neutrally: 'two-bedroom home near downtown.'
Traps: ads omitting the brokerage name; quoting occupancy limits rather than applying them evenly; refusing a service animal because of a no-pets policy.