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Amid growing dissatisfaction with the polarizing tripartite agreement policy, the National Association of Realtors is trying to kill MLS Choice, the Phoenix Realtors membership alternative, before it goes into effect on January 1.
NAR issued a cease-and-desist letter to Phoenix Realtors on Thursday, announcing that MLS Choice (brokers can gain access to state-compliant forms, legal aid, and continuing education without joining NAR and the state of Arizona) The company threatened to take legal action if it proceeded with the use of its $249 membership. Real Estate Agents Association.
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Agents who participate in MLS Choice may not call themselves real estate agents and may not take advantage of NAR’s advocacy, business tools, educational opportunities, or certifications.
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While PAR is trying to draw a clear line between membership choices, NAR General Counsel Leslie Muchau said MLS Choice still blurs the line.
“[MLS Choice] “We maintain that real estate licensees can become members of PAR without being members of the Arizona Association of Realtors or NAR,” she said in an email obtained by Real Estate News Thursday.
Musho said PAR membership violates NAR’s tripartite agreement, which requires agents and brokers to join local, state, and national real estate agent associations in order to obtain NAR affiliate membership. It is mandatory to join. Muchow also clarified NAR’s policy regarding MLS access, noting that NAR does not require agents to be members of an association in order to access MLS.
“[Realtor associations] In an email to NAR’s Board of Directors and association leaders, Muchau wrote: Strengthen the real estate agent organization that benefits its members and the consumers it serves, and set and enforce standards of ethical real estate practice. He said it was intended to. “To be clear, NAR does not require real estate professionals to be members of a real estate agent association in order to access the MLS. MLS participation is determined at the local level.”
“NAR continues to foster competition and support the local broker market for consumers,” she added. “This is a matter of maintaining the standards of the Realtor brand, as we have always done and always will.”
Mr. Inman asked NAR for additional details on the cease and desist letter and details of next steps if PAR denies the request.
“In order to support and advocate for the REALTOR trademark, our integrated model, and the members and consumers that REALTORs serve, NAR has provided Phoenix REALTORS with the option for non-REALTOR real estate licensees to become members of Phoenix REALTORS. We took this necessary action in response,” a NAR spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Without the consistency and partnership created by our integrated approach and efforts to uphold NAR’s constitution, bylaws, and tripartite agreements, the market research, business resources, and unified rights that NAR members rely on would be lost. An advocacy platform, a single code of ethics, is at risk.”
“This is a matter of upholding the standards of the REALTOR brand to best meet the needs of our members and their consumers. We have always done so and continue to do so,” they added. “To be clear, this issue is about REALTOR association membership…NAR continues to promote competition and support a pro-consumer local broker market.”
Andy Fegley Credit: LinkedIn
PAR CEO Andy Fegley did not comment on the letter. But he told Inman in November that MLS Choice was not intended to undermine NAR.
The CEO noted that MLS Only, the predecessor to MLS Choice, has long been used by brokers in Arizona when agents do not need to maintain a three-way membership to access the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. said. MLS Only and now MLS Choice were made possible thanks to the 1994 NAR rule, which removed the requirement that participants in the Realtor Association MLS must be members of the Realtor Association, he said. This left the MLS to decide whether a subscriber was required to be a real estate agent member, which remains a common requirement today.
“We’re modernizing the MLS Only option, providing brokers with options and options, and agents with options to do business,” he said. “To be an option, we need to give real estate professionals all the tools they need to do their job.”
NAR’s suspension of PAR comes as the association faces an intense battle over a tripartite agreement.
Since August, at least seven agents and brokers have filed lawsuits against NAR over the agreement, alleging it violates antitrust laws. In the latest lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, broker Luz de Amor Eitaris claims the agreement “unlawfully restricts competition in the real estate market” and is “exclusive.” He said there is.
“Brokers must ‘purchase’ association memberships that they do not need or do not want to receive MLS services,” Eitaris said. “This structure creates an anticompetitive monopoly over MLS services, limits the market’s ability to support alternative trade organizations, and thereby suppresses competition in violation of the Sherman Act.”
“It’s all about making money,” she added. “We need to focus on serving our clients better.” [and] To achieve the goal we set out to achieve: selling real estate. That’s the bottom line. We are here to sell real estate, not to take classes, pay dues and fees, or fill out more forms. ”
Despite the growing number of lawsuits, NAR CEO Nikia Wright said the association will continue to defend its policies.
Some of you may have heard rumors that we are going to object to the three-way agreement,” Wright said on NAR NXT. “Well, we’re here to make sure these rumors are put to rest, because we want to make sure that people understand what’s going on at the local level, the state level, the national level; And it’s our duty to make sure that people understand that that’s not actually the case.” It’s cannibalization of services, but they’re actually working together to make things work. ”
Mr. Fegley did not respond to Mr. Inman’s request for comment.
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