The Ten: NAR ready to reclaim narrative after bumpy year 

Editor's note: In this year of evolution — much of it mandated by legal challenges — a handful of people and themes have emerged as defining forces. Real Estate News has selected the top newsmakers of 2024, based on their industry impact and influence. They are The Ten.

January of 2024 seemed like a fresh start for the National Association of Realtors, which had just concluded a year of epic setbacks and public turmoil.

Tracy Kasper, the organization's vibrant new president, wrapped up 2023 with a series of mainstream media interviews as well as industry-facing statements, where she empathized with frustrations over "misinformation peddled in the courts and the media" about Realtors — and said NAR would channel that frustration into action.

Just eight days into the new year, however, Kasper stepped down after receiving a blackmail threat involving a "past personal, non-financial matter."

And thus began Kevin Sears' extended run as president of NAR, a role usually held for a year but one he will continue to occupy through 2025. The nation's largest trade association provided additional certainty about its leadership in August by removing the "interim" from CEO Nykia Wright's title.

For many organizations, the unexpected resignation of a newly appointed president would be the biggest surprise of the year. But for NAR, that event was quickly overshadowed by a firehose of dramatic events: its landmark deal to settle commissions lawsuits and the messy rush to comply with new rules it created, a divisive debate over Clear Cooperation, ongoing DOJ scrutiny and critical coverage from some of the nation's largest media outlets, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, which called NAR "arrogant."

And yet membership is at its highest point since February — more than 1.5 million. NAR, like its members, is resilient.

A settlement that left some things unsettled

Much of Sears' term as president has been spent apologizing for the fact that more than 90 of the nation's biggest brokerages and around 30 non-Realtor MLSs were left out of the NAR settlement. "We fought as hard as we could," he told industry leaders in April. 

It was a theme repeated in November, when Judge Stephen Bough granted final approval to the deal. NAR lead attorney Ethan Glass described the case as "extinction-level litigation" and said the organization felt fortunate that it was able to pay and survive — and provide certainty to the industry as a whole — whereas many businesses would have been financially crushed.

Reaction to the deal was mixed, with 70% of agents displeased with it, while two-thirds of consumers approved. Meanwhile, some in the industry said the settlement might spur innovation, while others were concerned about the impact on first-time buyers and underserved communities. 

Scrutiny from the DOJ and the NYT spells trouble

The Department of Justice has been "incredibly aggressive," closing out 2024 by filing a last-minute brief challenging the NAR settlement and telling the Supreme Court that ending its investigations into the potential antitrust violations by the association is a "non-starter." 

Journalistic investigations, meanwhile, have also been painful for the organization. New York Times reporter Debra Kamin wrote in 2023 about allegations of sexual harassment and a "culture of fear" at NAR, which were followed by the resignation of then-president Kenny Parcell and earlier-than-expected retirement of CEO Bob Goldberg.

As 2024 drew to a close, Kamin wrote about NAR's "lavish" spending, including six-figure pay for volunteers, and issues around transparency of the American Property Owners Alliance and the ethics of partisan spending. Kamin told Real Estate News she wants to help Realtors understand how their "dues dollars are getting spent."

NAR CEO Wright, meanwhile, told the board of directors in November that the organization would be working to reclaim the narrative around its efforts, and it provided a robust response to Kamin's story on the APOA.

Defending the three-way agreement

Membership has held steady, despite the advancement of an alternative association and increasing pushback against the three-way agreement, which requires Realtors to join their local, state and national associations.

Some leading industry voices have called for a more flexible approach, via lawsuits, messages to NAR from within the Realtor association ecosystem and The Opportunity Report, an in-depth exploration of a brighter path forward for residential real estate.

Allowing "optional membership across all association levels will create a healthier, more committed, and transparent environment, where associations become more relevant and responsive to their members," The Opportunity Report states.

This is a sensitive topic for NAR. CEO Wright acknowledged "rumblings" of discontent around membership rules, but noted that "we are here to make sure that those rumblings subside."

In December, NAR targeted new rumblings in Arizona, sending a cease-and-desist letter to Phoenix Realtors over MLS Choice, which the local association described as a way for brokers to "offer their agents the opportunity to access both the MLS and legal forms, along with several existing benefits, outside of the traditional three-tier membership system." NAR said Phoenix Realtors is allowing local association membership in violation of the three-way agreement.

This will no doubt be an issue to watch in 2025. "It is our duty to make sure people understand what happens (at every level)," Wright told the directors.

It's all part of a bigger picture that NAR is working to reframe. As Wright put it: "It is our implicit and explicit oath to you all that we will continue to make sure people around the nation, consumers and Realtors and agents alike, understand our purpose, and make sure that people are not discussing negative narratives about what we do."