The following is a special report on actions of the Board of Directors of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® at its meeting Saturday, May 16, 2009, in Washington, D.C.
In addition to the report below, click here to view clips from US Cable Network coverage of the NAR Real Estate Summit.
REALTORS® Federal Credit Union launches
Mike Brodie, chair of the REALTORS® Federal Credit Union, announced that the credit union was “open for business.” Brodie introduced Thomas Glatt, CEO, who thanked the more than 200 NAR members and staff who’ve already joined. "We’re America’s newest credit union,” he said, “but after only four days of operations, we are not America’s smallest credit union."
For more about the REALTORS® Federal Credit Union (RFCU) and its benefits to you, go here.
Other NAR Board Actions:
Changes to Code, MLS policy
False and misleading statements. Standard of Practice 15-2 was amended and a new Standard of Practice was approved to strengthen members’ obligations to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, including in use of social media tools.
The new amendment includes the duty to publish a clarification about, or to remove statements made by, others on electronic media the REALTOR® controls once the REALTOR® knows the statement is false or misleading. For example, if you’re publishing a blog and someone posts a false or misleading comment about a fellow REALTOR® on it, it’s your duty to remove the post or publish a clarification when you become aware of it.
Separately, the board approved a change to the NAR Bylaws, imposing the same duties on associations and MLSs as on members to not make false or misleading statements against competitors, competitors’ business practices, or competitors’ companies.
Land brokerage. Article 11 was amended to include land brokerage among the specialties that members should refrain practicing without training. (This change must be approved by the NAR Delegate Body in November.)
Compensation for cooperating brokers. Standard of Practice 3-2 was amended to establish a clear definitional marker of the point in time at which a listing broker’s offer of cooperative compensation is accepted. Any change in the compensation offered must be communicated to the cooperating REALTOR® before the REALTOR® submits an offer to purchase or lease the property.
Brokerage contracts. Standard of Practice 16-20 was amended to clarify that if a REALTOR®’s relationship with his or her brokerage is terminated, he or she can’t take any action to induce clients to cancel exclusive contractual agreements with the brokerage, regardless of who terminates the relationship.
Short sale commission reductions. The board gave MLSs the discretion of whether to permit participants to communicate to each other how any reduction in the gross commission established in the listing contract by the lender, as a condition of approving a short sale, will be apportioned between the listing and cooperating participants.
Short sale definition. The board added the following definition of a short sale to the Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy: "a transaction where title transfers, where the sale price is insufficient to pay the total of all liens and costs of sale and where the seller does not bring sufficient liquid assets to the closing to cure all deficiencies."
Details on these Professional Standards changes and MLS policy changes are available on REALTOR.org.
RETS transition. The board extended the RETS compliance deadline for MLS vendors to Dec. 31, 2009.
Search engine indexing
A proposal to change IDX policy to permit search engine indexing of listings was referred back to a work group of the MLS Policy Committee currently reviewing the IDX rules with an eye toward updating them. The proposal, which had been approved by the NAR Executive Committee a day earlier, came after an Indianapolis REALTOR® was asked to stop Google from indexing listings from her IDX feed. The request from her board was based on an IDX rule that requires participants to protect IDX information from misappropriation by “employing reasonable efforts to monitor and prevent scraping” of the data. The member, Paula Henry, argued that indexing by search engines was not the same as scraping, and the MLS Policy Committee and Executive Committee had agreed. An NAR director from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS®, while not going on record to oppose the change in IDX policy, asked that members have time to review the proposed change before a board vote. The proposal will now go to a work group that was formed to consider other changes to bring IDX in line with new virtual office Web site rules.
Legislative positions staked out
The board voted to:
Seek federal regulation of appraisal management companies (AMCs) to ensure they operate within the same standards as independent appraisers. The role of AMCs stands to grow under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines that went into effect May 1. The guidelines, the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, were established to reduce appraisal fraud.
Oppose federal legislation (H.R. 1020/S. 931) that would eliminate the enforceability of arbitration and other pre-litigation dispute resolution methods in connection with real estate matters.
Support legislation reinstating assumable loans by eliminating the “due on sale” clause for new and existing FHA and VA loans.
Fair Housing monument
NAR will seek legislation calling for a National Fair Housing monument to be erected on National Park Service land adjacent to the NAR building in Washington in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act. NAR would seek support from other groups in connection with the development and maintenance of the monument.
Legal funding
The board approved $72,114 in legal funding for three cases: $5,000 in an appeals case seeking clarity on whether a member can avoid arbitration by filing a lawsuit that involves claims in addition to the commission dispute involved in the arbitration $7,500 for a case in which a seller refused to pay a commission because the closing took place after a protection period in the listing agreement $59,614 to cover one third of outstanding legal costs in cases involving the constitutionality of a point-of-sale inspection requirement in Calumet City, Ill.
The board also approved $187,000 to reimburse local associations, MLSs, and brokers for a portion of the costs they incurred in the federal antitrust case against NAR involving virtual office Web site rules.
Budget adjustments
The board accepted the 2008 audited financial statements of NAR, approved adjustments to the association’s 2009 budget, and approved a membership forecast of 1,060,000 members for 2010. Treasurer James Helsel Jr. and CEO Dale Stinton noted that, although budget shortfalls are forecast for 2009 and 2010, the association would still end 2010 with a net worth of more than $200 million.
The board voted to keep dues at $80 per year and to continue the $35 per member special assessment to fund the Public Awareness Campaign.
2010 officers
The board elected the following slate to lead the association in 2010: President, Vicki Cox Golder, Tucson, Ariz. President-elect, Ronald Phipps, Warwick, R.I. Treasurer, James Helsel Jr., Lemoyne, Pa. First Vice President Maurice (“Moe”) Veissi, South Miami, Fla.
Golder announced the following appointments: Vice President and Liaison to Committees, Brooke Hunt, Flower Mound, Texas Vice President and Liaison to Government Affairs, Vince Malta, San Francisco, Calif.
Award winners
The winners of the 2009 Distinguished Service Award are Jerry Teeson, GRI, Coon Rapids, Minn., and David Peretti, GRI, Winchester, Mass. The 2009 William R. Magel Award for excellence in association management went to Travis Kessler, RCE, San Antonio (Texas) Board of REALTORS®. All three awards will be presented at the board of directors meeting in San Diego Nov. 16, 2009.