Is it something to eat? Oh, I know, it's my Trash folder in my email. Well, no, actually, it's not either one of these, but it is something we, as REALTORS^®, need to know about.

CAN-SPAM ACT

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, or CAN-SPAM Act, became effective on January 1, 2004, and regulates commercial emails. The Act is designed to create one national standard and is considered pro-business because the legislation does not prohibit sending commercial electronic mail messages unless the consumer has specifically opted out of receiving emails from the sender.

CAN-SPAM only covers "commercial electronic mail messages," which are defined as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." This definition would cover any email that promotes real estate brokerage services or the purchase or lease of property to potential clients.

CAN-SPAM does not cover purely informational messages, such as email newsletters. CAN-SPAM also does not cover "transactional or relationship messages," which are essentially messages arising out of an ongoing commercial transaction between two parties.

The CAN-SPAM Act requires that all commercial electronic mail messages from a real estate Brokerage contain the following:

• Legitimate return email and physical postal address.

• Clear and conspicuous notice of the recipient's opportunity to "opt out" or decline to receive any future messages.

• Opt out mechanism active for at least 30 days after message transmission.

• Clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation.

So make sure you adhere to the Do Not Call, Do Not Fax, and CAN-SPAM rules.

See you next week.

Back to Ronnie REALTOR^® Archive >>