On November 13, 2020, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® voted to amend the NAR Bylaws and the Code of Ethics, which now extend the application of Article 10 of the Code of Ethics to discriminatory speech and conduct outside of members’ real estate practices. Those changes take effect immediately, but the changes cannot be applied to speech or conduct that occurred before November 13, 2020.
These are three big changes you need to know about:
1 – NEW STANDARD OF PRACTICE 10-5 PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATORY SPEECH AND CONDUCT. Article 10 prohibits REALTORS® from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity in the provision of professional services and in employment practices. NAR approved new Standard of Practice 10-5 under Article, 10, which states that, “REALTORS® must not use harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs” against members of those protected classes.
2 -THE CODE OF ETHICS NOW APPLIES TO ALL OF A REALTOR®’S ACTIVITIES. NAR revised Policy Statement 29, expanding the Code of Ethics’ applicability to all of a REALTOR®’s activities, and added guidance to the Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual to help professional standards hearing panels apply the new standard. While the Code of Ethics’ applicability is expanded, most other Articles and Standards of Practice remain specific to real estate transactions and real estate-related activities.
3 – REVISED DEFINITION OF “PUBLIC TRUST.” NAR amended the bylaws to expand the definition of “public trust” to include all discrimination against the protected classes under Article 10 and all fraud. Associations are required to share with the state real estate licensing authority final ethics decisions holding REALTORS® in violation of the Code of Ethics in instances involving real estate-related activities and transactions where there is reason to believe the public trust may have been violated.
If you missed our webinar explaining the changes, you can watch it here. Make sure that you are first logged into MiamiRealtorsLive.com. The slides are HERE. These are the other important resources that we mentioned in the webinar:
- NAR’s landing page on the new changes
- NAR’s Frequently Asked Questions
- Professional Standards Committee Recommendations to the NAR Board of Directors (November 2020)
- Inman article: Educate yourself before reacting to Code of Ethics changes!
If you have any questions, please contact the Professional Standards team at professionalstandards@miamire.com or at:
- Evian White De Leon, Esq., Chief Legal Counsel
- Xochitl Rieche, Professional Standards Manager
- Leslie Fernandez Rosales, SVP of Business Development