Do you believe the California Association of Realtors (CAR) provides you valuable services for your annual dues?
- No (70%, 481 Votes)
- Yes (30%, 206 Votes)
Total Voters: 687
Updated 05-10-2012
Many real estate licensees wrongly believe they must join the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the California Association of Realtors (CAR) or the local Association of Realtors (AOR) branch of CAR to practice real estate in California, too often equating these trade union leviathans to the Department of Real Estate (DRE) due to their past close liaison.
Other licensees have a slightly better grasp on the implications of membership or non-membership in the real estate trade union versus DRE licensing, but still mistakenly believe that union membership is necessary in order to access their local multiple listing services (MLS).
This impression is not unfounded. Before 1976, most real estate trade union boards owned and required all access to the MLS to include membership in their association. Such practice was prohibited in 1976. [Marin County Board of Realtors, Inc. v. Palsson (1976) 16 C3d 920]
Palsson prohibited making association membership a requirement for MLS access to the marketplace. The association was allowed to exact a “reasonable fee” from nonmembers, derogatorily called Palsson members, for MLS access. Of course, the bundling continued with the AORs claiming ownership of data behind all the published listings, giving access only to their card-carrying members.
Related article:
So, let’s get the facts straight: trade union membership is not required to practice real estate and it is not required to access an MLS. Give your local association a call — they know the rules.
Related article:
Letter to the Editor: trade union membership not a licensing requirement
To access an AOR-owned MLS, an individual must:
- have a valid California real estate license;
- be a broker, or a sales agent under a broker who is a member of the MLS;
- apply for access to the MLS; and
- pay a fee, which varies by AOR.
If an agent’s broker is not a member of an AOR, the agent is not required to be a member of an AOR. However, if a broker is a member of an AOR, his agents must also be members of the AOR in order to access the broker’s MLS.
No other restrictions apply. Real estate agents and brokers can continue to access an MLS without paying excessive and unnecessary dues or entangling themselves in a trade union’s bureaucracy, codes and arbitration rules.
Knowledge is power — and this case, money saved.
I am a broker belonging to the mls. and will be listing my home soon. I’m not sure how it works if I receive an offer by an agent who is a C.A.R. member as most are. I do not want to have all the C.A.R. forms as part of the real estate transaction so can anyone explain how this might work? Thank you! R.S.
Dear Rob,
There is no standard form for use in California. You may use any form you choose. Thus, there is no law that requires the use of CAR forms in a real estate transaction, whether a CAR member or not. The law however does require the use of statutory disclosures such as the Agency Disclosure and the Transfer Disclosure Statement, which can be found in our RPI Forms library. Although statutorily required, these disclosure forms also need not be published by CAR. For more information, see “Our policy on real estate forms.”
Thank you,
first tuesday Editorial Staff
My question is . . . if you are a MLS only member, can you join CAR & NAR without joining the local board? The local boards have merely become collection agencies, hammering local real estate companies to collect dues on behalf of the board. In fact, real estate offices are threatened with fines if they DON’T collect dues from their agents, for the board.
Terry,
Thank you for inquiry! To join CAR and NAR, an agent needs 1) to be affiliated with a broker who is also a member, and 2) to join a local board. For more information, see how to join at the CAR website.
Regards,
ft Editorial
So all I need to do is find a broker who is not a realtor, so I can have MLS access without being a realtor. What about lockbox access? Can I get it through the MLS without being realtor ?0
Bar,
Thank you for your inquiry! Yes, real estate agents can access lockboxes with an MLS-only membership.
Regards,
ft Editorial
How do you FIND a Southern CA broker who is not a realtor… to hang your license with and get an MLS-only membership?
Barry,
Thank you for your inquiry! Finding a broker with an MLS-only membership can be difficult. Word of mouth is usually the best way to find brokers with MLS-only memberships, so try consulting your professional network to see who knows of an opportunity. Also, first tuesday‘s Broker Search tool can help you find a broker near you, although it doesn’t designate whether a broker has an MLS-only memberhsip.
Regards,
ft Editorial
So many misunderstandings, misconceptions and ill feelings toward the DRE, NAR, CAR, MLS, legality of forms, costs, ethics and more. An aberration of this great industry, sad to say. First of all the organizations from DRE down have the typical government attitude, SPEND then CHARGE/TAX with apathy and ignorance of the average incomes. The average real estate agent makes little more than working at McDonalds or Walmart. Consequently the fees are outrageous in most cases.
Yes the spin doctors can defend but the facts are the facts. The industry needs more basic training not just the spin doctor crap and extensive legalese. The industry needs to be more transparent and fiscally responsible to its Agents and Brokers who work hard to support them.
Without a doubt, the fees, especially of CAR’s are outragous….around $1,000 to join, and then about the same every year after as annual dues. This is largely due to the captive hold CAR has on their membership due to forcing their membership to use WinZip, which bundles their form library, and even more outragously is a for profit corporation owned owned by CAR.
It doesn’t stop there…..the CEO of CAR is also the CEO of WinZip, a Michigan corporation. Is that a conflict of interest or what?
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !
I have a CA broker’s license. I am thinking about join a broker firm as a broker associate. If the firm belongs to local AOR (NAR, CAR), can I still join MLS-Only membership as a broker associate?
Sam,
Thank you for your inquiry! Even as a broker associate, you still need to match your employing broker’s membership status. Only if the employing broker has an MLS-only membership are you able to also join as MLS-only.
Regards,
ft Editorial
Yes , I`m totally agree that board like S R A R in California is charging high membership fees, with no consideration at all the California Bureau of Real Estate should act immediately and omit a law about the realtor fees and make an amendment to lower these fees, to been accessible all the time to every realtor to pay them ,when the real estate agent have a tremendous desire to conduct a professional real estate services and get stack when these fees are out of their hands, also there a big number of unnecessary benefits that the realtors don`t need at all, SO , THE REAL ESTATE LICENCE CAME FIRST, NOT THE WORD REALTOR, IT1S TIME TO CHANGE
If the so called associations/more union behavor would even consider monthly payments I asked and was told NO we are not set up to do that! Who pays these people that have taken on the attitude that they are and actually now are in control If you don’t belong you won’t beable to have access to forms I question is this legal ? If so is it legal for an agent or agency to deman all offers be written on CAR forms? That one would think can not be legal. A past member of NAR/CAR and local Association/union I now either have to get my Brokers license or find a broker that also is not a member of all 3 because to belong to one you must belong to all 3 and pay accordinly other wise I have no access to CAR forms. How ever Zip who in control now I’m understanding owned by CEO of CAR offers another form of documents which that covers the legallities for CAR but the a fee of $849.00 per year and back to does an agent or agency have the right to dictate only accepting CAR form offers otherwise will not be accepted ?. As agents we all know the law but not all agents follow/ perform the law. Pick and choose offers, if not done on correct CAR forms won’t be accepted, never signed proof has been presented to seller, fill in time presented, all is on the RPA yet never completed and don’t bother to ask.
While I am waiting for my previous comment to go thru moderation, I would like to ask another question. Has anyone ever gone thru arbitration with CAR and then asked for a Directors Review of the arbitration and found out they lost the tape of the original arbitration? To add insult to injury then they say “too bad, case closed’ ?
where can we find mls only brokers to sign-up with?
Good question!! Did you ever find one??
I am actively looking for a broker anywhere in California to hang my license with that is NOT a member of the horrific union please feel free to contact me if you know where I can go!
I recommend the broker RE eBroker. Their website is reebroker.com they have an active license(actually 2, one license # is for AOR members and the other one is for MLS-only agents) with the Bureau of Real Estate.
As of June 2020, they no longer offer the MLS only option.
Did u ever find a broker not associated with realtor?
Yes, however there are some drawbacks. First let me say the Realtor Union is a powerful lobby for our industry which is supported by the members only. Second it is not easy to be in real estate due to the many ups and downs. Now to be independent remember no access to the realtor listings or MLS how would you survive?
Be aware the commission sharing is on a case by case basis as an independent which of course goes both ways, ouch ! I am a survivor.
I am thinking of taking my brokerage out of the association. I am just curious how many agents are interested in a non-association broker?
Im sure allot would be. Ive had a hard time finding a broker that is MLS only…
I know I would be interested
You will find agents who will join a brokerage with strong moral/ethical leadership. A teaching/learning attitude and one who serves their clients exceptionally well. Remember however the realtor union is a powerful lobby for our industry supported only by the membership. In addition those brokers may or may not share commissions, nor share listing data unless you join mls. It’s a two edged sword. Think carefully and plan to work like hell. I know !
I am looking right now for one ! If you are in Calif.
Did you find one in CA? I am looking also.
Did you ever take your brokerage out of the association? If so, I would be interested in a non-association broker.
for elisha if you ever got an answer to that question let me know (non mls broker) that’s what I’m looking for too.
chris
cvolkay@aol.com
Dear Mr. Bye:
Membership to your local Association of Realtors (AOR) includes membership to CAR and NAR. The local association is simply a branch of the state association, as the state association is a branch of the national association.
However, membership in the trade union is not mandatory to access and AOR-owned MLS.
Thank you for your comments. We hope you find this information helpful.
One more question. Can you just join CAR only and not the local or National? Thank you.
former member of local mls in my northern county. In order to obtain membership in our local MLS, it was required to join the local mls by purchasing one share of stock for $225.( in addition to pay monthly dues to access current listings). The original MLS became less competetive,and many fellow brokers were joining the Board Multiple Service. and were not forwarding their listings to the original MLS. At one time, original members would recieve one or two listings per week and not being competetive with the board listings. thereby many mls members dropped out , or sold their stock share for minimum amount. The president of the corporation, offered to purchase my share for a small dollar amount, and I refused to sell. At the board meetings the board voted to conviscate or remove my share from ownership for not paying dues then due. Please Comment . thanks.
Dear Mr Bye:
As an agent of your broker, you must subscribe to the same services as your broker. There are generally two tiers of board membership: “Realtor members,” who pay the full union dues and the subscription fee to the MLS, and “MLS-only” members. If he is a Realtor member, as his agent, you also must be a full Realtor member. If he is an “MLS-only” member, you may choose to be an MLS-only member. The Supra key is an available service, regardless of type of board membership.