REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-NAR Directors Extend Ad Campaign, Take Other Key Actions

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Daily Real Estate News | May 17, 2004 | NAR Directors Extend Ad Campaign, Take Other Key Actions The Board of Directors of the National Association of REALTORS® voted to continue the REALTORS® Public Awareness Campaign for 2005 through 2007, adding $5 million per year in funding to allow the campaign to continue at its current level of television and radio exposure, despite rising advertising costs. For 2005, the additional funds will come from a combination of carryover of surplus money from the awareness campaign fund and contributions from NAR reserves. In 2006, the additional $5 million will come solely from reserves. And in 2007, the special member assessment will increase from $20 to $25. The Directors approved the increase at their meeting on the last day of the 2004 REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings and Expo in Washington, D.C., which ran May 10–15. The meeting attracted a record 8,300 attendees, while the expo sold out 25,600 square feet of trade-show space to 203 exhibitors. In other actions at the meeting, the Board of Directors:

Extended by six months the mandatory deadline for MLSs to adopt virtual office Web site (VOW) policies approved by NAR in 2003. The new deadline is Jan. 1, 2005.
Changed the name of the association’s Public Policy Political Forum to Legislative and Political Forum and created a separate Regulatory Issues Forum to reflect NAR’s increased focus on federal regulatory issues, such as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s preemption of state banking laws for national banks.
Committed the association to support development of a zero-downpayment FHA product that includes both single-family and two- to four-unit properties.
Adopted a policy to support liberalization of real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) rules to make commercial loan securitization more attractive to borrowers.
Amended NAR environmental policy to encourage active forest management practices, including forest thinning, that reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fires.
Approved $558,000 to fund four legal cases, one involving wetlands regulation, another MLS fees, a third MLS membership, and a fourth E&O coverage for lead-based paint disclosure. One of the cases, Freeman v. Sandicor, involves a decision by the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals (San Diego County, Calif.), which held that Sandicor’s pricing policies for support services amounted to unlawful price fixing. The funding is on top of money NAR had previously put into the case and comes after another plaintiff indicated an intention to form a class of plaintiffs.

In changes to the association’s professional standards, the board:

Added a new Standard of Practice 10-3 (relating to Article 10 of the Code of Ethics) to allow practitioners involved in a non-residential transaction to provide demographic information on an area if such information is critical to completion of the sale and is obtained from a recognized and impartial source.
Adopted a policy allowing a local board’s grievance committee to take up complaints against a practitioner if the original complainants withdraw their case at any time before an ethics hearing if the committee determines a potential violation of public trust may have occurred.
Clarified that a suspension of membership means suspension from all levels of the association (local, state, and national) and that automatic reinstatement occurs at the end of the suspension period.

The board heard a report that the association, which expects to reach 1,025,000 members by the end of 2004, is in a strong financial position. For fiscal year 2005, the association is projecting $99.2 million in gross revenue, including $65.6 million in dues, $28.8 million in non-dues revenue, and $4.9 million in interest income, for a $5.65 million projected surplus for the fiscal year. NAR Treasurer Mike Brodie, ABR, noted that member dues have remained at $64 since 1995. The board also heard a report that the REALTORS® Political Action Committee doubled its contributions over the last five years. RPAC raised $2.8 million in the first five months of this year, putting it on track to surpass its 2004 goal of $4.5 million. REALTOR® participation in the PAC was at 30 percent as of mid-May. Other reports:

REALTOR® Secure. NAR launched this initiative last year to help members manage their online information flow in a way that minimizes the risk of losing or giving unauthorized access to their data. Rappatoni Corp. MLS is the first company to be certified under the program, it was announced.
Homestore. With legal actions settled, the company is now focusing on improving its value to REALTORS. The company’s cash position in the first quarter of 2004 was up 18 percent over the first quarter of 2003.
REALTOR.com. The site attracted nine million unique visitors last month, generating 14 million e-mails. REALTOR.com President Allan Dalton encouraged members to maximize their opportunities by responding to e-mail inquires they receive from consumers. Currently, 50 percent of e-mail inquiries to real estate associates aren’t opened, and fewer than 10 percent of associates are putting up multiple photos of their clients’ property, even though 70 percent of consumers want multiple photos, he said.

The board also elected its 2005 slate of NAR officers: President, Al Mansell, CRB, Salt Lake City; President-elect, Thomas Stevens, CRB, CRS, GRI, Vienna, Va.; First Vice President, Patricia Vredevoogd, ABR, CRS, GRI, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Treasurer, Mike Brodie, ABR, Plano, Texas. The election included a competitive race for the first-vice-president post between Vredevoogd and Patricia Kaplan, CIPS, CRB, GRI, e-PRO, of Portland, Ore., NAR’s treasurer in 2002 and 2003. It was the first contested election since 1988, when Harley Rouda, CRB, GRI, of Columbus, Ohio, was elected over Carl Storey, CCIM, SIOR, of Nashville, Tenn. The board also heard the selection for the 2004 Distinguished Service Award. The winners, Stephen Hoover, Roanoke, Va., and Ronald Miles, CCIM, GRI, Denver, Colo., will be honored in November at the 2004 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla. —Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine Online