Joel Maxson directly addresses camera: The National Association of Realtors Board of Directors passed a new rule that became effective November 13th, 2020. Standard of Practice 10-5 expanded the scope of Article 10, which has long required Realtors to not deny professional services or discriminate based on NAR's list of protected classes. NAR's protected classes are . . . race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity. 

Before this new standard of practice was passed, the rule applied to a Realtor's ON the clock - activity while involved in providing real estate services. Now that the rule has PASSED, this anti-discrimination rule applies to ALL activities, including personal - OFF the clock - time. Whether you're posting messages to friends and family online, hosting your personal podcast, or having conversations with friends . . . this rule applies.

Why did NAR's Professional Standards Committee expand the rule? There was a great deal of social unrest throughout the United States in 2020. During that time, NAR received complaints from around the nation where people forwarded discriminatory posts Realtor members had made in online message boards and social media. After many hours of debate and discussion, this rule was drafted and passed during the Board of Directors meeting at NAR's annual convention.

Let's take a closer look at the new standard of practice 10-5, along with some excellent resources for further study.

This rule is part of NAR's Code of Ethics, so it applies to every real estate licensee who joins a local board of Realtors, which also gives them membership in a state association, such as Florida Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors.

Here's the language of this new standard of practice: Realtors must not use harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on the protected classes we just mentioned.

If you're trying to decide if something you've seen or heard violates this rule, one practical tip is to start by looking at NAR's list of protected classes. Did someone write or say something about one of the protected classes? If not, then the rule doesn't apply, even if those comments would have been a violation otherwise. For example, negative comments about someone's age or weight are not covered by this rule. Neither are comments about a political party or candidate unless they also include comments about a protected class. Please note that NAR's protected classes may not line up identically with protected classes in your local jurisdiction. Once you determine that a comment IS about a protected class, then you can move to a second stage of analysis. 

The SECOND stage is to examine whether any words or phrases used about a protected class contain hate speech, harassing speech, epithets, or slurs. Each of these four words has a specific definition, which we don't have time to review in detail here. 
The bird's eye view of all four words is that they describe words or phrases that are insulting, offensive, intimidating, inappropriate, disparaging, abusive, shaming, or degrading.  The are all negative. 

This rule is one of the more serious violations that NAR calls a violation of PUBLIC TRUST. Public trust violations include misappropriating client or customer funds or property, discrimination against one or more of NAR's protected classes, and fraud. This means that, if a local board has a citation system that bypasses the formal hearing process, it cannot apply to an Article 10 complaint. Additionally, the recommended sanctioning guidelines for THESE violations will be more serious than some other code of ethics violations.

Some have asked if this new rule covers words and phrases uttered before this rule was passed. It does not. This rule covers words and phrases published or spoken after the effective date of November 13th, 2020. Additionally, as with any code of ethics complaint, the act in question must have occurred no more than 180 days before the complaint is filed.

Others have asked if this rule, which centers on speech, could be a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. While the First Amendment does protect freedom of speech, it generally prevents the GOVERNMENT from abridging the speech of American citizens. Since NAR is a PRIVATE organization, the First Amendment does not apply to this rule.

Members have also asked . . . What's to stop someone who doesn't like a person's political views from filing an incendiary false accusation? The Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual has many procedural safeguards to ensure fairness to both sides – complainants and respondents. A formal complaint must be filed to begin the process. A committee will review the complaint to ensure it is in order and merits a hearing. Both sides will have an opportunity to present any evidence the panel deems relevant to the case during a confidential hearing, and a panel of local Realtor volunteer leaders will deliberate and vote on the outcome. If one side believes there were procedural problems along the way, there is an opportunity to appeal to the leadership team for their review. These stops along the way are designed to ensure the truth comes out, both sides have an opportunity to be heard, and that a fair outcome is reached.
 
Some cases will be obvious, but some will require judgment calls and careful consideration. If you ever find the need to make a judgment call and want to review a more detailed definition of hate speech, harassing speech, epithets, or slurs, NAR published a new Appendix XII to its Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual. This appendix is titled “Appropriate Interpretation of Standard of Practice 10-5 and Statement of Professional Standards Policy 29.” This is a brief, two-page document that's a fantastic place to start if you're unsure whether the new rule covers a certain situation or not.
If you're looking for MORE conversation and context about this new rule, knowledgeable leaders are recording six different hour-long training sessions that cover different aspects of this new rule. These sessions can be found on NAR's website and are available for replay shortly after each is recorded. The first session was recorded on November 30th, 2020, and the sixth session will be recorded April 6th, 2021.