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REALTOR® ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE
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|  Updating documents By Cindy Butts Ultimate Model Policy Makeover Just like your home or your wardrobe, there may be many outdated items in your association bylaws and new- member application. Earlier this year, a work group of association executives reviewed the National Association’s model bylaws and membership application with an eye toward modernizing them. Their recommendations could help your association operate more efficiently. Although these recommendations were approved by the Association Executives Committee and NAR’s Board Policy department, they must still be approved by the Member Policy Committee and NAR’s Board of Directors on Nov. 8 before they would officially become part of NAR’s Model Bylaws. (Update: these recommendations were approved by the NAR Board of Directors on Nov. 8. The new revised 2005 Model Bylwas will be posted in January 2005.) It’s important to note that these recommendations are not mandatory. Although the model bylaws have been updated throughout the years, this is the first comprehensive review in many years. 1.Detail the executive officer’s job. One interesting omission in the current model bylaws is any mention of a chief staff executive. The bylaws do not address the executive officers’ duties, role, or authority at all something many associations have since added. In fact, many job functions such as corresponding with NAR, keeping records of the association, and sending out notices are assigned in the current bylaws to volunteers, even though most association AEs are the ones who perform these duties. Check to see what functions may be incorrectly assigned in your bylaws. 2.Have directors hold the purse strings. Too many financial details have been placed in bylaws rather than financial policies where they can be updated and administered more easily. Because associations used to have tiny budgets and limited need for detailed financial procedures and policies, current model bylaws refer to the entire membership approving capital expenditures. This has been interpreted to mean everything from the purchase of a new fax machine to a new building. Today, a far more effective procedure is to empower your board of directors to act on behalf of the membership. Your bylaws should reflect that empowerment, with language such as, Dues shall be annually decided by the board of directors or within financial policies established by the board of directors. 3.Update to account for new technologies. State law and technology may allow for new types of voting and meetings. It’s no longer unusual for associations to conduct committee and director meetings electronically such as by conference call, fax, phone polling, or e-mail. However, the bylaws may only allow for live meetings and possibly postal mail notifications. Ensure that your bylaws match your current practice so your association can take advantage of modern communication options. If your state law permits, you may also be able to elect officers or hold annual meetings electronically. 4.Update the makeup of your board. Bylaws may not allow consistency of volunteers. Worse yet, they may allow for too much consistency. Language in the current model bylaws does not include the immediate past president on the board of directors, which many associations believe is meaningful for continuity. There are associations that not only added one past president for a one-year term but also provided much greater depth to service on the board. On the other extreme, there are associations with lifetime appointments of past presidents to the board. Such associations usually find out later that they have more voting past presidents than current officers and directors. The language the Association Executives Committee is suggesting stipulates that one past president serving a one-year term (along with staggered director terms) does provide continuity. An option you may also want to consider is establishing term limits. 5.Write in staff and AE job security. Use your bylaws to define who has the authority to hire the chief staff executive and establish his or her staff supervisory role. The board of directors typically hires, and has the authority to terminate, the chief staff executive. It’s best for everyone if the bylaws are clear on that detail. Otherwise, one angry president may form a firing squad of his or her own choosing to terminate the chief staff executive. When there is nothing that says terminations can’t be handled that way, you might find yourself in a bind. It’s also important that your bylaws provide the chief staff executive with the sole authority to hire, supervise, evaluate, and terminate other employees when the association has determined it needs more than one staff. 6.Limit the number of named committees. If a committee listed in your bylaws is no longer needed, then it may be taking up valuable volunteer and staff time and resources and may come up with recommendations that aren’t needed. Many associations have moved away from listing all of their committees in their bylaws and instead list only three or four key committees, such as Grievance, Professional Standards, Executive, and Budget. The associations then create language allowing their board of directors to decide on and approve annually the formation of other committees or task forces to meet the organization’s goals for that year. 7.Separate the elective year and the financial year. Sometimes these years run on different calendars, so they require separate notations in the bylaws. It’s also not unusual to find that many association bylaws go into far too much detail. If you try to hunt down the reason from your local association historians, you will likely find language was added to correct a problem at a specific point in time to be sure it never happens again. Compare your bylaws with the model bylaws and consider deleting any unnecessary details (such as the exact date that dues bills must go in the mail) or moving them to operational policy or financial policy. Model New-Member Application Updates The Association Executives Committee also took a look at the model new- member application. The modifications to this model document focus on making it shorter and easier to complete. It’s possible to collect the information you need for NRDS records and for legal and policy purposes on one to two pages. Check your current application to be sure you are only asking for the pertinent data and that you are getting the consents you actually need. Cindy Butts, rce, cae, EVP of the Maine Association of Realtors® and its statewide MLS, is the chair of NAR’s 2004 AE Committee. She can be reached at cindy@mainerealtors.com. |
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