An idea to draw attention to a flashpoint issue in residential real estate while also potentially gaining new members for the American Real Estate Association (AREA, our acronym usage, not theirs) has worked out well, thanks to the group’s co-founder, Jason Haber.
Haber, an agent with Compass in New York, who created the American Real Estate Association earlier this year along with Los Angeles celebrity agent Mauricio Umansky, posted a petition on change.org on Sept. 20 calling for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) to end the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), which requires REALTORS® to add properties to NAR-affiliated MLSs within one day of marketing them elsewhere.
Over 4,400 people have signed the petition as of Sept. 30, part of what appears to be a growing pushback against the controversial policy—though the industry appears divided on the issue.
“I have a political background,” Haber tells RISMedia. “In New York State, I was a district leader and a state committee member for the Democratic party. I was a delegate, worked for a number of elected officials and held positions in government. So I have a background in organizing around issues.”
Haber explained that AREA’s goal of the petition is to have NAR get that agents are ready to move on from Clear Cooperation. Text within the petition provided details regarding how AREA views the issue:
Prior to its enactment, agents could publicly market properties based on the specific needs of their clients without fear of violating NAR rules. Clear Cooperation strips away that flexibility, pressuring agents to choose between NAR’s policies and their obligation to safeguard client confidentiality and trust.
Under the Clear Cooperation Policy, homeowners are prohibited from publicly marketing or posting about their own properties unless the listing is on the MLS. This overreach by NAR strips away homeowners’ control over how and when to promote their properties, severely limiting their ability to attract offers that may be more aligned with their privacy needs or financial goals.
The petition goes on to characterize “true purpose” of Clear Cooperation as something to benefit “entities other than the client.” Plaintiffs in lawsuits that have claimed Clear Cooperation violates antitrust statutes have made similar arguments, pointing to the “office exclusives” exception to the policy, which allows brokerages to continue marketing listings within their company without putting them on the MLS.
“We’re trying to build momentum on this important issue,” Haber says, “and I think that’s the piece that we sometimes forget about. It’s really about giving homeowners the choice, and putting them first. And we hope that’ll bring innovation into the industry, too. If this policy change comes to fruition, you’ll see more innovation entering this space.”
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, who has emerged as one of the more prominent critics of Clear Cooperation in the last few months, made similar predictions at RISMedia’s CEO & Leadership Exchange, pointing to internal private listing systems already adopted by some MLSs.
Getting fresh views for AREA has been huge for the new group, which has consistently vowed that rather than considering itself as potential competition for NAR and its 1.5 million members, it views itself as an alternative that can coexist.
“It’s been all organic,” says Haber of the startup and petition. “Just email, social media and letting people know. I can see in the data that people are sharing it. The petition has been viewed over 55,000 times already. People are reading it and sharing it, and people are learning about our trade group, in some cases for the first time through the petition. When you start, you’re really small like us. We’re on the ground floor, trying to build something. These are good ways to get the agent community to know about you, when you’re actively doing important work on their behalf.”
Haber is optimistic that NAR will take note of the petition. A source close to NAR recently told RISMedia that while there is no requirement or official mechanism for committees to consider the number of people supporting a policy change, they are allowed to take that kind of support into account.
“The hope is that they’ll see all the collective efforts in the industry,” he says. “We’re just one piece of it, but they’ll see all the efforts and say, ‘Okay, this is what the industry wants now, and that’s provided for them and for the homeowners of the country.”
NAR has recently indicated that it is considering all views of Clear Cooperation and could make a decision before or at the organization’s upcoming annual meeting in early November. In a statement emailed to RISMedia, a NAR spokesperson said:
“The MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board concluded its regularly scheduled meeting, which began Thursday, Sept. 12. These meetings are part of the process for evaluating potential MLS policy changes, which impact the entire industry and must involve robust discussion and input from stakeholders. The Advisory Board, joined by members of the NAR Leadership Team as guests, spent two days reviewing feedback and proposals regarding the Clear Cooperation Policy, optional no-commingling rule and the Brokerage Back Office Feed.
“In its deliberation, the Advisory Board weighed a wide range of perspectives including buyers, sellers and real estate professionals, as well as fair housing principles, as they considered how to best meet these evolving stakeholder needs. Because these policies have far-reaching implications for the industry and require especially thorough deliberation, the Advisory Board will consider next steps with the Leadership Team. The Advisory Board intends to reconvene in October, after which time we will continue to keep you apprised of updates.”
