REALTOR® A, the listing broker and a member of the X Board of REALTORS®, and REALTOR® B, the cooperating broker and a member of the Y Board of REALTORS®, disagreed as to whether REALTOR® B should participate in a commission on a sale. The property was located within the jurisdiction of REALTOR® A's Board, and REALTOR® A proposed that the dispute be submitted for arbitration within his Board, the X Board of REALTORS®. REALTOR® B agreed, and appeared before an arbitration panel of the Professional Standards Committee of the X Board of REALTORS® to present the evidence in support of his view that he was entitled to participate in the commission. The arbitration panel of the X Board of REALTORS® found in favor of REALTOR® A.
REALTOR® B then requested his Board, the Y Board of REALTORS®, to contact the X Board of REALTORS® for the purpose of arranging interboard arbitration as provided for in Article 17 of the Code of Ethics. The Y Board of REALTORS® refused, pointing out that REALTOR® B had voluntarily accepted the proposal to have the matter arbitrated by the X Board of REALTORS®; that he had agreed to be bound by the Hearing Panel's decision; had participated in the arbitration proceeding; and having done so, he was not, following an adverse decision, entitled to initiate another arbitration hearing.
