NAR Board Meets, Approves Changes

The board met May 11 during NAR’s legislative meetings in Washington, D.C. Votes focused on the 2024 budget, dues, fair housing training requirements and more.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Board of Directors met in Washington, D.C. on May 11 and took the following actions:

Fair housing and diversity training

The board made it a requirement for future Board of Directors members to complete a full roster of fair housing training – the At Home with Diversity, Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing, and Fairhaven training. For 2024 directors, it’s a performance expectation to be completed by May 1, 2024. For the 2025 Board of Directors, the three training programs will be a qualification requirement.

New applicants for membership will be required to complete two hours of fair housing training, and existing members must complete two hours every three years as a condition of membership. At Home with Diversity and Bias Override satisfy the course requirements. Fairhaven will be updated to meet the two-hour requirement and serve as a no-cost option.

Election rules

Approved amendments to the Campaign and Election Rules Manual:

Prohibiting Regional Vice Presidents from applying and campaigning for another term as Regional Vice President while still in office.
Prohibiting the Realtors® Relief Foundation vice president and state presidents from filing an application and campaigning for certain NAR elected offices, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
Allowing endorsed Realtors and potential candidates to attend and speak at their home state association and region-sponsored events, regardless of location, provided that the intended audience for such meetings is limited to individuals from the home state or region.

Financial wellness

Approved a recommendation to add a new financial wellness competency to the Realtors Commitment to Excellence (C2EX) program.

Trigger leads

Approved a policy that NAR opposes the sale, exchange and use of trigger leads for mortgage loan marketing.

Trigger leads are a marketing tool where competing lenders and mortgage brokers buy leads from credit reporting agencies after a consumer applied for a mortgage loan they executed a hard credit pull. The result: Consumers may receive dozens of calls, texts and emails from competing lenders, some of which may be inaccurate or fraudulent.

Consumers often don’t know how to opt out and may believe their current lender, mortgage broker or real estate agent has sold their information. Trigger leads may also violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer privacy laws, Federal Trade Commission Act Sec. 5: Unfair or Deceptive Acts and Practices and the National Do Not Call Registry.

Legal action

Approved grants involving the following legal challenges:

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors will receive grants to support the filing of amicus briefs in two cases, one on appeal that would put an undue burden on property owners to learn of criminal acts that occurred at the property prior to ownership. The other is in connection with the association’s successful advocacy against the court’s adoption of a rule that could have prevented real estate brokers from recovering damages if a client breaches an exclusive broker agreement unless the contract explicitly states that the broker is entitled to a commission regardless of whether the broker was the procuring cause.
The Hudson Valley Property Owners Association will receive a grant in a challenge to the imposition of rent control guidelines by the city of Kingston, N.Y., on select multifamily buildings.

Federal financing and housing

Approved a recommendation that NAR support policies, regulations and programs that enhance assumable mortgage products for federally insured loan programs (FHA, VA, USDA) and the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.).

Business issues

Approved a policy that NAR encourage federal efforts and collaboration within the real estate industry to support programs that expand the construction-industry workforce to relieve labor and housing shortages.

Federal taxation

Approved a recommendation to support tax policy that provides a reduced capital gains tax rate to existing owners (as of the date of enactment) of qualified one- to four-unit rental properties who sell to an owner-occupant.

The incentive would effectively reduce prices, since investors wouldn’t have to charge as much to yield the same return. It could also increase the inventory of available homes for first-time buyers.

Budget and dues

The directors also: