The new membership option allows agents who are not members of local, state, or national Realtor associations to access state-compliant forms as an alternative to NAR’s “tripartite agreements.”
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Starting Jan. 1, Phoenix’s 11,000 agents will have a new membership option in their local real estate agent organization, an alternative to joining the National Association of Realtors and state associations.
Citing a flurry of settlement agreements, Phoenix Realtors announced MLS Choice. MLS Choice is a membership level that saves agents hundreds of dollars annually while providing access to state-compliant forms and legal assistance.
The option comes amid growing pressure on real estate agent organizations to decide whether to change so-called “tripartite agreements”. This agreement is a rule imposed by most multiple listing services that simultaneously requires agents to be members of local, state, and national real estate agent organizations. To access your organization’s MLS.
MLS Choice is an updated version of its predecessor, MLS Only, used by some brokers in Arizona where agents are not required to maintain a three-way membership to access the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. Yes, Phoenix Realtors CEO Andy Fegley told Inman. Starting next year, “MLS Only” will become “MLS Choice,” he added.
“We are modernizing the MLS Only option, giving brokers a choice and giving agents a choice to do business,” Fegley said. “To be an option, we need to give real estate professionals all the tools they need to do their job.”
The new membership option costs $249 per year, less than half the $511 annual cost to join NAR, Arizona Association of Realtors or Phoenix Realtors. Fegley declined to tell Inman how much the MLS-only option would cost. Real Estate News was first to report the latest information.
MLS Choice members may not call themselves Realtors, a trademark owned by NAR.
“Personally, I think it’s a great idea,” said John Wake, a Phoenix real estate market analyst, adding that he’s interested in the new membership. “I just paid to renew my membership for another year last week.”
Wake added that he had not heard of the MLS Only membership option and would like to compare the new form to one created by the Arizona Association of Realtors.
“Is there something different about the contract? Maybe it’s simpler. Maybe that’s part of it,” Wake said. “The contract and MLS are why you joined NAR.”
Settlements with intermediaries and franchisors stemming from the Sitzer case. The Barnett decision and subsequent copycat litigation removed the requirement for agents to join the NAR in order to work with these intermediaries and franchisors. But the nation has yet to see a wave of MLSs that provide access to non-member agents of local, state and national real estate brokerages.
Brokers in three states have filed antitrust lawsuits challenging the tripartite agreement, and at least one realtor organization has publicly called on NAR to terminate the agreement. Earlier this month, NAR CEO Nikia Wright defended the tripartite agreement at the organization’s annual meeting in Boston. Wright told the audience of about 1,000 directors that he aims to highlight the benefits at all levels of the organization.
“Some of you may have heard rumors of a challenge to the tripartite agreement,” Wright said. “Well, we’re here to make sure these rumors die down, 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. ”
In Phoenix, brokers who opt into the MLS Choice program receive fewer discounts, tools, and educational resources than brokers who opt into a three-way agreement. Also, medical, dental, vision, and other discounts are not available. They are not allowed to call themselves real estate agents.
They will continue to receive local business discounts, free continuing education, office space reservations, market statistics, listing media services, access to the broker’s legal helpline, and legal documents.
The group said the change was made possible by a change NAR made in 1994 that eliminated the requirement that participants in the Realtor Association MLS must be members of the Realtor Association. This left the MLS to decide whether a subscriber was required to be a real estate agent member, which remains a common requirement today.
Phoenix Realtors said it has created a new set of forms for MLS Choice agents to use in compliance with state law.
Email Taylor Anderson
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect the tripartite agreement and correct dates of past NAR changes.
