Jim Valentine: National Association of Realtors change

In these times of political and ideological differences being practiced, challenged and protested with a vengeance, the National Association of Realtors has taken a bold position on the speech of its purported 1.4 million members. It is based on good intentions according to the press release giving notice of the decision, but it is a scary step onto this slippery slope they are venturing forth on.

We are referencing the decision by the board of directors of NAR that make “… it a violation for Realtors to use harassing or hate speech toward any of the protected classes under Article 10 of NAR’s Code of Ethics.” The “protected classes” include “race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identity.” These classes are protected from discriminatory activity by the Fair Housing Act, this action by NAR prohibits hate and harassing speech toward or about those classes.

The Fair Housing Act penalty for violation has reduced last week from $50,000 for the first offense to $21,410 for reasons not known to us. Regardless, an agent found guilty of the Code of Ethics violation can be fined as much as $15,000, potentially a total of $36,410 in fines if found guilty of both. The Code of Ethics prohibition applies to association members 24 hours a day every day of the week, covering all communication, private and professional, written and spoken, online and off.

This is an interesting situation as it allows an individual to file a complaint against an agent even if they are voicing opinions or debating topics that pertain to the above, i.e., Black Lives Matter, men identifying as transgender competing against women in sports, and other topics related to the classes that may simply be a new awareness or addressing unintended consequences of new or traditional behaviors practiced by the classes. While hate and harassing speech is usually easily identifiable, it can also be subjectively interpreted to be such when the specific language used isn’t intended to be such, nor is it perceived as such by most listeners/readers. It therefore has the potential to be used in an improper manner.

The purpose behind it is a good one in theory. It is felt that someone of that mindset would deny professional services or be parties to a plan to discriminate. “Specifically, bias against protected classes revealed through the public posting of hate speech could result in Realtors not taking clients from certain protected classes or not treating them equally, which would lead to violations of the Fair Housing Act due to overt discrimination or disparate impact.” You can decide for yourself how those dots connect.

Everybody deserves the right to objective professional service. That is a simple and proper way to live in our view that is shared by the professional agents that we know and work with. Like anything in life, there are always those that violate common decency, values, policies, and even laws. Their unacceptable behavior is what necessitates more laws and people to enforce them to the detriment of everyone else.

Is such a far-reaching sanction an effort to quiet dissenting political views among its members? NAR is for all people of every political, religious, and other persuasions. We are here to serve as real estate professionals, not political activists. If someone is openly violating the spirit the new policy is trying to establish then they shouldn’t be serving the public anyway in our opinion. It is sad that it has to come down to a powerful organization whipsawing its membership to achieve what should occur naturally in our opinion.

Unfortunately, these tumultuous times may be causing the need to “legislate” morals and mores. How sad. The right thing should come from within. The “classes” have no control over who their parents were, where they were born and their sexual orientation. It just happens like it does to everybody. We are all equal and deserve equal treatment regardless of regulations.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your Real Estate needs… Experience is Priceless!  Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781-3704.   dpwtigers@hotmail.com.