National Association of Realtors

National Association of Realtors

The NAR building and the U.S. Capitol in the background.The National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose members are known as Realtors, is North America's largest trade association representing over 1 million members (as reported in 2006), including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. NAR also functions as a Self Regulatory Organization for real estate brokerage. In the UK the equivelant is the NAEA.

The National Association of Realtors was founded on May 12th, 1908 as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, the founding group being located in Chicago, Illinois. In 1916, the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges changed its name to The National Association of Real Estate Boards. The current name was adopted in 1974.

NAR's membership is composed of residential and commercial real estate brokers, real estate salespeople, immovable property managers, appraisers, counselors, and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate (immovable property) industry, where a state license to practice is required. Members belong to one or more of some 1,600 local Associations of Realtors and Boards of Realtors in the 54 state and territory Associations of Realtors. They are pledged to a code of ethics and Standards of Practice, which includes duties to clients, the public, and other Realtors.

Word as colloquialism

Realtor is frequently used as a colloquialism in many countries to describe any person or company involved in the real estate trade, regardless of their NAR status or American residence. However, the word REALTOR (which the NAR prefers rendered in all caps) is a registered trade mark owned by the National Association of Realtors, and, if maintained, cannot be used in commerce by other parties in a way that is likely to cause confusion as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of goods, services, or commercial activities. The NAR authorizes usage by National Association of Realtors members or licensees. See also genericized trademark.

NAR and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) systems

The MLSs are to residential real estate what NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange are to securities, and NAR governs the hundreds of local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) which are the information exchanges used across the nation by real estate brokers. (However, there are many MLSs that are independent of NAR, although membership is typically limited to licensed brokers and their agents; MLSPIN is an example of one of the larger independent MLSs in North America).

Through a complicated arrangement, NAR sets the policies for most of the Multiple Listings Services and, in the late 1990s with the growth of the internet, NAR evolved regulations allowing Information Data Exchanges ((IDX)) whereby brokers would allow a portion of their data to be seen on the internet via brokers' or agents' websites and Virtual Office Websites (VOW) which required potential buyers to register to obtain information.

These policies allowed "Participants" (whether they were individual one-man brokers or large regional companies) to limit access to some or all of the MLS data by individual brokers (whether they were brokers operating solely on the internet or local competitors). In 2005, this prompted the Department of Justice to file an antitrust lawsuit against NAR alleging its MLS rules in regard to these types of limitations on the display of data were the product of a conspiracy to restrain trade by excluding brokers who used the internet to operate differently from traditional "brick and mortar" brokers. For a description of the DOJ action, see Antitrust Case filings for US v. National Association of Realtors. Action is pending.

In response, NAR has proposed setting up a single Internet Listing Display system which will not allow Participants to exclude individual brokers (whether of a "bricks and morter" type or solely internet-based) but require a blanket opting out of display on all other brokers' sites.


NAR educational requirements and designations

For NAR's Code of Ethics education requirements and significant designations sponsored by the organization, see Real estate broker article on education.

Contributions to political campaigns

The NAR wields substantial power as a lobbying organization on behalf of agents and brokers; in 2005, NAR had the largest Political Action Committee in the United States. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Association is the United States' third-largest donor to political campaigns, having given since 1990 more than US$ 30 million. Of this sum, an average of 47% has gone to Democratic and and 53% to Republican recipients.[5] Key political issues for the group revolve around federal regulation of the financial services industry.

See also

Real estate broker
David Lereah (chief economist of the US National Association of Realtors)
Real estate trends
Estate agent (United Kingdom)
List of real estate topics
United States housing bubble