NAR Board OKs Budget, Culture Transformation Plan

BOSTON — At its Monday meeting, the National Association of Realtors® Board of Directors approved NAR’s operating, advocacy and consumer ad campaign budgets and approved a membership figure of 1.4 million to serve as the basis for dues revenue in the 2025 budget. To date in 2024, membership continues to track ahead of forecast, NAR Treasurer Greg Hrabcak reported. (Read more on the membership count and the rationale for the 2025 forecast.)

Realtors® Relief Foundation Board of Directors President Mike McGrew reported that the foundation had awarded more than $13.7 million in 2024. Hrabcak, who will head RRF in 2025, thanked McGrew for his leadership and appealed the 986 directors in attendance (in person and virtually) to contribute toward a $20,000 meeting goal. By the end of the meeting, directors had contributed nearly $30,000 to the foundation. One hundred percent of contributions to RRF go to help disaster victims meet short-term housing needs.

See a complete report of Board of Directors and Executive Committee actions.

Culture Transformation Plan

On Sunday, NAR’s Executive Committee considered 11 recommendations of the Culture Transformation Commission. Under its new authority to approve policy, the committee approved 10 of the recommendations and sent one to the Board for consideration. (Note: According to the new governance process, the Executive Committee can refer decisions to the Board when needed. Because this recommendation was broad-reaching, the committee decided it should have more eyes on it.)

Directors approved the final recommendation, which requires that NAR develop and conduct annual training to reinforce expectations and accountability policies, and that all NAR volunteers and staff recommit annually to understanding and adhering to all policies and procedures related to accountability.

See an explanation of all 11 recommendations.

(Note: The Executive Committee took action on more than three dozen actions related to culture, budget, copyright protection and more prior to the Board of Directors meeting.)

Campaign and election rules

Directors approved changes to the association’s Campaign and Election Rules Manual to strengthen the vetting process for NAR elected and appointed office. The changes include required social media audits for elected and appointed officers and broader media audits for candidates for president-elect, first vice president and treasurer to help ensure NAR is aware of any circumstances that could reasonably represent a source of embarrassment or liability to the association.

In other changes to the Campaign and Election Rules Manual, directors:

• Moved up the application submission period for those seeking NAR elected office to Jan. 1 to April 1. (Currently, the period runs March 1 to June 1.) The change will allow the Candidate Audit Workgroup and Credentials and Campaign Rules Committee (CCRC) more time to complete potential candidate audits and hear appeals before the Aug. 1 notification of eligible candidates when campaigning begins.
• Established a process that allows potential candidates for elected office to make a good-cause challenge to up to three CCRC members to be replaced by randomly selected past CCRC members when they feel there is a conflict of interest or lack of impartiality in an appeal hearing.
• Established a process for investigating potential breaches of confidentiality by a potential candidate or CCRC member. The investigation would be conducted by outside counsel and would be presented to a panel of past presidents for determination of any discipline.
• Amended applications for elected and appointed office, and outlined a process for investigating potentially false information, to ensure the truthfulness of candidates’ applications.

Professional standards

Directors approved an amendment to Standard of Practice 11-2 which refers to the fiduciary duty of Realtors® working as agents or subagents. Since many states have enacted statutory or regulatory duties to supersede the common law term “fiduciary,” the amendment adds the phrase “or applicable agency duties required by law.”

Constitution change: Commercial representation

The Board of Directors voted in favor of an amendment to Article V, Sec. 1 of the NAR Constitution that would require that commercial practitioners make up a minimum of 10% of the NAR Executive Committee. The rationale for the change is that it serves the commercial pillar of NAR’s strategic plan and ensures inclusivity for an important segment of the membership. Constitutional changes must be noticed to and approved by the Delegate Body, so the Delegate Body will consider this change at its 2025 meeting at NAR NXT in Houston.

Delegate body actions

Code of Ethics Change: Following the Board of Directors meeting, NAR’s Delegate Body approved an amendment to Article 4 of the Code of Ethics. The amendment—designed to ensure the Code provides clarity on conflicts of interest and protects buyers, sellers, lessors and lessees—was approved by the Board at its May 9, 2024, meeting. At that meeting, the Board also approved news Standards of Practice 4-1 and 4-2, but those changes didn’t require a Delegate Body vote. The change takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

The Delegate Body and Board of Directors both considered a proposed change to the NAR Constitution that would have added a representative from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to the NAR Executive Committee. Both groups approved an Executive Committee recommendation to send the proposed change back to the Leadership Team for further consideration.

Monday’s meetings capped off NAR NXT, The Realtor Experience, which drew 10,000 Realtors and guests to Boston.

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