{"id":68807,"date":"2020-11-16T10:15:30","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T15:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68807"},"modified":"2020-11-16T10:15:30","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T15:15:30","slug":"nar-passes-ethics-changes-to-crack-down-on-social-media-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=68807","title":{"rendered":"NAR passes ethics changes to crack down on social media harassment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The trade organization said on Friday that the changes will ‘raise the bar on the professionalism and private speech of America\u2019s 1.4 million Realtors’<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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After an annual conference heavily focused\u00a0on\u00a0fair housing, the\u00a0National Association of Realtors\u00a0on Friday passed controversial\u00a0changes to its professional standards\u00a0to crack down on racist and\u00a0discriminatory speech and behavior.<\/p>\n

NAR\u2019s 959-member board of directors on Friday approved changes that apply\u00a0NAR\u2019s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice\u00a0to all of a Realtor\u2019s activities, not just those related to real estate; prohibit hate and harassing speech against protected classes; prohibit all discrimination, not just willful discrimination, against protected classes; and recommend that ethics violations be considered under membership qualification criteria.<\/p>\n

The changes also reiterate that the association can refer ethics violations to governmental agencies and offer specific guidance for hearing panels regarding violations that would consider discrimination \u201cparticularly egregious\u201d when determining appropriate discipline and add termination of membership for up to three years as a possible disciplinary action.<\/p>\n

One of the policies that was approved, Standard of Practice 10-5, reads as follows: \u201cRealtors must not use harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.\u201d A Realtor that violates the policy would be charged under Article 10 of the Code of Ethics, which prohibits denying equal professional services to anyone in those protected classes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The policy is effective immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applaud NAR\u2019s Board of Directors and our Professional Standards Committee for their efforts to raise the bar on the professionalism and private speech of America\u2019s 1.4 million Realtors,\u201d said NAR President Vince Malta in a\u00a0statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCombatting and overcoming bigotry and injustice starts with each of us. Realtors today took tangible steps to ensure we are held to the highest possible standard while providing a mechanism of enforcement for those who violate our new policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trade group said its Professional Standards Committee, which put forward the policy changes, will continue working to develop case interpretations to assist members and professional standards enforcement volunteers in understanding the code\u2019s applicability.<\/p>\n

Before the board meeting, the changes\u00a0proved controversial\u00a0due to their potential subjectivity and what some saw as overreach, but after receiving complaints of\u00a0racist\u00a0and\u00a0other discriminatory behavior\u00a0on social media, trade group leaders insisted that to be a\u00a0Realtor by day and a \u201ckeyboard bigot\u201d by night\u00a0was unacceptable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen one Realtor posts discriminatory speech or conduct online, that content becomes reflective of Realtors on the whole. Left unchecked, those statements become who we are as an organization, and further reinforce the barriers to homeownership experienced by so many Americans. These recommendations are one very impactful way we can advance equity and fairness in the real estate industry, and ensure access to the American Dream for all,\u201d the Professional Standards Committee said in an FAQ.<\/p>\n

Panelists at Inman Connect Now on Thursday expressed reservations about the changes, but ultimately they said the trade group should\u00a0pull the trigger\u00a0and tweak them afterward as the need arises.<\/p>\n

The board already made one change at the recommendation of NAR\u2019s Executive Committee. That change would require member associations \u201cto share with the state real estate licensing authority final ethics decisions holding Realtors in violation of the Code of Ethics in instances\u00a0involving real estate-related activities and transactions<\/strong>\u00a0where there is reason to believe the public trust may have been violated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding that the violation must involve real estate-related activities addresses a concern that a regulatory agency would otherwise be \u201casked to act on personal, ethical matters which may be beyond the scope of license law,\u201d according to the committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The board of directors meeting, originally scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Central, ran some two hours over its scheduled time. Inman asked whether debate on particular policy changes prompted the delay and asked for a vote count on the ethics changes but NAR spokesperson Mantill Williams said, \u201cIt is our policy not to share vote counts and specifics about our debate process.\u201d<\/p>\n

All items put before the board passed as presented, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The trade organization said on Friday that the changes will ‘raise the bar on the professionalism and private speech of America\u2019s 1.4 million Realtors’ After an annual conference heavily focused\u00a0on\u00a0fair housing, the\u00a0National Association of Realtors\u00a0on Friday passed controversial\u00a0changes to its professional standards\u00a0to crack down on racist and\u00a0discriminatory speech and behavior. NAR\u2019s 959-member board of directors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68808,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68807\/revisions\/68808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}