NAR Board of Directors Votes to Amend Code of Ethics

NAR's Professional Standards Committee convened on 5/13/10 during the NAR Midyear Meetings in Washington, D.C., and voted unanimously on a proposal to amend the NAR Code of Ethics to include sexual orientation as a protected class. As of 5/15/10, the motion has been approved by NAR's Board of Directors, and will go before NAR's delegate body during their annual meeting this November 8, 2010, in New Orleans for final review. If approved, the change in code will take effect January 1, 2011.

The amendment was originally brought to the attention of the Wisconsin REALTOR® Association's Madison Equal Opportunity Committee in March of 2009 by the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP) naglrep.com. Both organizations took the issue later that year to NAR's Equal Opportunity Cultural Diversity Committee for discussion with majority support. Then in May of 2010, NAR's Professional Standards Committee, with strong support from NAR's Equal Opportunity Committee, approved to send the amendment to the Board of Directors Meeting for vote. If approved by NAR's delegate body later this year in November, it will, according to NAR General Counsel, Larie Janik, put the association ahead of the curve. "We know we will be ahead of Congress if we enact this," she said.

Find more information on the decisions made at the NAR Board of Directors meeting.
Read the Speaking of Real Estate Blog on the Code of Ethics change>
Watch video of the historic vote>