Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Blog

Need a weekend away or a change of scenery? I live on the west coast of Florida in Sarasota but periodically get away to the east coast for little rest and relaxation.  If you need a break from life to recharge your batteries take a look at Longboat Key off the coast of Sarasota, Florida. It is about a three and a half hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale.Longboat Key is an 11 mile long barrier island that is surrounded by the aqua blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota bay. Need some peace and quiet? This is a great place to find it. The beaches are not very busy and there isn’t a large public beach access on Longboat Key. You almost have the whole beach to yourself.

Need a little activity? Take a 5 minute drive to Lido Key and hit St. Armands Circle? There are some fun outdoor restaurants, shopping, ice cream shops, bars and other entertainment. You can also drive over into downtown Sarasota to catch a play, see a movie, do some shopping on Palm Avenue in the art galleries, grab a meal, or just window shop in some of the charming stores on Main Street. Longboat Key and Sarasota really is a spectacular place to visit for a long weekend to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

If you are coming for the weekend you can stay at the The Longboat Key Club, Colony Beach Resort, or the Hilton on Longboat Key. All three resorts are on the beach and allow guest to be within steps of the sand and water. The Longboat Key Club is a resort that offers world class golf and tennis facilities.

Thinking of a second home? I’ve sold beachfront condos to residents of the east coast of Florida because they wanted a weekend getaway. It is nice to hop in the car and be in a similar but different world within ust over 3 hours. Far enough to escape but not so far that you will never use it. If you are considering a second home or to relocate, please visit my Longboat Key real estate page to view a multitude of properties to fit any budget.

A Realtor friend of mine in Sarasota has recently faced an aggressive legal battle launched at him by the Sarasota Association of Realtors®, (SAR) of which he is an active member, because of the use of “mls” in his website address.

The use of “area mls” in a Realtor’s website address was widely recommended in a 2002 article written by “Mr Internet” in a publication by the National Association of Realtor’s® (NAR).

Marc Rasmussen, a Sarasota Real Estate Agent, purchased his website address “thesarasotamls” back in 2003 based largely on the advice he read in the article and when marketing real estate on the internet was in it’s infancy.

Mark continued to spend numerous hours and thousands of dollars over the next 5 years creating and improving what had become the number 1 Sarasota Real Estate website and was rewarded for his efforts by achieving high rankings in the internet search engines.

A recent change in Article 12 of the National Association of Realtors® Code of Ethics, now allows local Realtor® Associations at their sole discretion to determine if their members are permitted to use the term “mls” regardless of how long they have used it and especially with disregard to the recommendation featured in the Mr Internet article.

It should be pointed out that “mls” is not a trademark of any Realtor® Association, instead the trademark for Major League Soccer (MLS). The public has also come to know mls as a common everyday term for real estate property listings.

However, it was prior to this change in the ethics code that the Sarasota Association of Realtors® decided to take legal action against Marc, apparently in an effort to shut his website down. A website that was highly respected for doing what a real estate website should do, provide consumers with real estate information and real estate property listings.

Morgan Carey, the web designer for Marc explains in detail in his blog post Help us Fight the Sarasota Association of Realtors® , the legal action which began with an ethics complaint against Marc filed by SAR (Sarasota Association of Realtors®) for which Marc was cleared of any wrong doing.

This is where I and many others believe SAR® went too far crossing the line. The Association, rather then accept this ruling, continued action against Marc outside the scope of an ethics complaint, in a legal maneuver, brought their argument to the Internet Corporation for Unassigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - which as you will read below, has nothing to do with ethics.

ICANN mission statement

In a split decision, ICANN ruled in favor of the Sarasota Association of Realtors®.

Marc has filed a lawsuit in Federal court against the Sarasota Association of Realtors® to allow him to maintain control over the old website address (domain name thesarasotamls.com). Marc has already redirected the old address to his new website address.

By allowing Marc to maintain control over the old domain and through the redirect to his new website will preserve the past 5 years of hard work and maintain the authority Marc’s old site had gained and avoid Marc having to start all over again.

There has been an enormous outpouring of support for Marc from fellow Realtors® across the country and a barrage of protests against the Sarasota Association of Realtors® has now put this issue into the lime light. They have an opportunity to do the right thing, bring this to a close and allow Marc to remain in control of the old domain.

If they continue to force Marc to surrender the website address to SAR®, than in my opinion, as shared by many others, this was never about ethics, nor an action to protect the consumer. Rather a contemptuous action far more rooted in taking down a Realtor’s® website possibly because of jealousy or envy.

Read the linked articles, and you decide.

• Inman News - MLS Name Dispute Lands in Court
• Paul Francis - Sarasota Association of Realtors - Who Does it Really Hurt?
• Eric Blackwell - SAR: The Real Cybersquat
• Cal Carter - The SAR Pokie
• Ryan Ward - Sarasota Association Slaps one of Their Own
• Charles Richey - Don’t Cross the SAR
• Judy Orr - Sarsota MLS attacks Its Own Member
  
• Joe Lane - TheSarasotaMLS is gone - Maybe Your Next
• Knox - TheSarasotaMLS
  
• Herald Tribune, Sarasota - Man Fights Realtors Over A Web Address
• Wanna Network - Unite Against The Sarasota MLS Board
• Cal Carter - Sarasota Association of Realtors® Throught It’s MLS Takes Down It’s Own Member ……. featuring a listing of all related blog posts

To list your article here, email me or post in comments.

To voice your support for Marc, contact the Sarasota Association of Realtors®

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