President's Corner: NAR celebrates 100 years

Do you know what May 8 is? It is my son-in-law's 40th birthday. Happy Birthday, Doug. No less in importance, it is the 100th anniversary of the National Association of Realtors.

NAR, originally called the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, was formed in 1908 by 120 men who met in a YMCA in Chicago. In 1913, it adopted its code of ethics. Today, NAR has a membership that exceeds 1.3 million.

"The association was only the second trade group in the United States to adopt mandatory ethical standards," says Dick Gaylord, NAR's 2008 president. "Today, new member and quadrennial code of ethics training is a condition of NAR membership. All realtors commit to NAR's strict code of ethics, and consumers can feel confident that the realtors they work with has agreed to abide by a code of ethics developed with public protection in mind."

In 1916 the association underwent another name change to the National Association of Real Estate Boards. The association got a chance to flex its muscle in the 1930s when the Great Depression left millions without jobs and brought home sales to a virtual standstill. The group championed legislation to create the Federal Housing Administration, long-term amortization and the Federal Mortgage Association, known today as Fannie Mae. NAR's involvement helped open the doors to home ownership for hundreds and thousands of middle-income families.

"Over the years, we've also helped protect the mortgage interest deduction, developed landmark fair housing and diversity education for our members, and created initiatives—like the Housing Opportunity Program—that support affordable housing advocacy efforts," Gaylord added. "Homeownership is a great financial and personal investment that strengthens our communities and builds wealth over the long term, which is why NAR has fought to protect consumers in the real estate transaction, promote affordable housing and expand homeownership opportunities for all Americans."

Rivaling NAR's protection of consumers might be its vigilant protection of the term realtors. Although the group has been using the term to identify its members since 1916, it wasn't until 1949 that the U.S. Patent Office awarded the association exclusive rights to the word. It wasn't until after the organization changed its name to the National Association of realtors in the imid-1970s that it began to really crack down on what it saw as a flagrant misuse of the term.

"There's a difference between a realtors and someone who sells real estate," says Rosemary Voss, a certified NAR member since 1976. "A realtors is required to follow the code of ethics. A realtor has special training and education that others don't have. So when homebuyers deal with a realtor, they know exactly what they're getting—the level of professionalism, the knowledge of the various phases of a transaction and the vast resources that are available to them. When they deal with someone who's not a realtor, customers can't be sure what they're getting. There's a reason NAR has been around for 100 years."

"Homeowners accumulate wealth for the future while enjoying the benefits of a shelter that they can use, improve and sell," Gaylord said. "According to data from the Federal Reserve Board, a homeowner's net worth is 46 times that of a renter's. Homeownership is a great financial and personal investment that strengthens our communities and builds wealth over the long term, which is why NAR has fought to protect consumers in the real estate transaction, promote affordable housing and expand homeownership opportunities for all Americans. And we will continue to do so into our second century."

The majority of the above article was taken from an article written by John Machay in the April 2008 Broker Agent magazine.

Linda Bush is the president of the Lodi Associaton of Realtors.