Realty ONE Group is letting agents decide if they want to renew their National Association of Realtors (NAR) membership. In an announcement on Tuesday, the brokerage company said that it has created a program that allows agents in eight metro areas in Arizona to choose whether or not they affiliate with NAR.
Starting on the first of the year, Realty ONE agents in Arizona can choose to keep their NAR membership or join Realty ONE Group AZ, a newly established subsidiary of Realty ONE Group, Inc.
Agents who choose to end their NAR membership can select MLS Choice as a brokerage benefit option. MLS Choice is a membership type provided by Phoenix Realtors, which does not require the agent to be a NAR member.
“Choice and opportunity will always be number ONE for us because the real estate professional is the center of their business, and the center of ours,” Kuba Jewgieniew, the CEO and founder of Realty ONE Group International, said in a statement. “Our mantra, EveryONE matters and everyONE has a voice is more important today than ever as our pros make critical decisions for their careers.”
This announcement comes a few days after Realty ONE Group was dismissed from the Masiello copycat commission lawsuit in Arizona due to its settlement agreement negotiated with the Gibson suit plaintiffs. The settlement was granted final approval in late October.
Realty ONE Group is hardly the first brokerage to allow agents the option to not join NAR. Redfin made headlines in October of 2023 when it announced that it would be requiring agents to cancel their NAR membership in areas where such a move was possible.
At the time, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman cited “NAR policies requiring a fee for the buyer’s agent on every listing” and “a pattern of alleged sexual harassment” as the reasons why Redfin had made the decision to split from the trade association.
RE/MAX, Anywhere and Keller Williams also no longer require agents to be NAR members, as per the terms of their commission lawsuit settlement agreements.
In addition to these moves by brokerages, several lawsuits have been filed taking aim at NAR’s membership structure, which in some areas requires agents to be members of their state, local and national Realtor association. The Alabama Association of Realtors (AAR) has also asked NAR if it would consider greater flexibility by allowing members to decide which levels of Realtor associations they would like to join.
