Decoded: There's no place for hate speech in real estate 

Thinking big about residential real estate success requires a big-picture perspective. Industry Decoded features industry experts who can enrich your understanding of issues affecting the industry as a whole.

The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

The First Amendment was never meant to be a blunt weapon. It protects speech from government censorship — not from consequence, not from accountability, and certainly not from moral scrutiny. Like any freedom, one's right to speech ends where another's safety begins.

That's why speech in real estate — especially hate speech — must have limits. Just as doctors can't spread medical misinformation and lawyers can't lie in court, Realtors must be held to a higher standard. Our work impacts lives, wealth, safety, and community. If that doesn't demand ethical boundaries, what does? 

Hate speech is not a right

Membership in a private association isn't a constitutional guarantee — it's an application process. Just like joining a country club, being part of a professional trade group means agreeing to follow the rules. You're told those rules upfront, and if you can't — or won't — abide by them, you're free to leave. For real estate professionals who choose to join the National Association of Realtors, the rules of membership are clearly stated in the organization's Code of Ethics.

In 2020, NAR appeared to recognize the need for boundaries around speech, adding Standard of Practice 10-5 to its Code of Ethics. Commonly known as the speech code, the standard states that "Realtors must not use harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity."

Yet in Texas, lawmakers are now moving to erode such standards. State Bill 2713 — which is expected to pass — proposes to outlaw professional codes that protect consumers from discriminatory or hateful conduct. This bill is the latest of hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced in Texas in recent years targeting vulnerable populations, and is an example of state leaders failing to act in the best interests of their people. Instead, they are listening to the growing number of voices — loud, angry, and cloaked in grievance — that confuse oppression with inconvenience. 

Some of those voices are coming from within the real estate industry, including long-time commentator Rob Hahn, who has praised the Texas bill and argues that Realtors should have the unfettered right to express views that may, and often do, undermine the dignity and safety of the very people we serve.

Real estate's history of exclusion

Let me be clear: This is not a personal attack on Hahn or anyone else. But I will challenge the use of influence to promote unfounded mandates built not on data or truth, but on anecdote or misplaced nostalgia. When someone claims that a rule designed to prevent hate speech is itself oppression, it is not only delusional, it's dangerous.

And it is especially dangerous in real estate — an industry with a well-documented history of exclusion, discrimination, and systemic harm. For decades, NAR endorsed racially restrictive covenants and fought to preserve redlining. It wasn't until 1972 — eight years after the Civil Rights Act — that NAR updated its Code of Ethics to acknowledge that discrimination was wrong.

Today, those legacies are still with us. Black Americans continue to lag nearly 30 points behind white Americans in homeownership. LGBTQ+ people face a 16-point gap compared to the general population, and nearly a third report direct housing discrimination or bias.

So yes, free speech matters. But justice matters more. The right to speak must never outweigh another person's right to live safely and equally. If we fail to draw that line in our industry, we are complicit in the harm that follows.

It's not about 'wokeness' — it's a matter of preserving the industry

Ultimately, this issue isn't about NAR's speech code, political ideology or cultural preferences. It's about protecting the clients and communities we claim to serve. According to research by the Urban Institute and the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, the next decade of homebuyers will be majority Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, immigrant, or multiracial. If we fail to foster an industry where those individuals feel safe and respected, we will not just lose credibility, we will lose business.

The economic stakes are enormous. McKinsey reports that inclusive organizations outperform their peers by more than 35%. Brookings has linked community trust and inclusion to GDP growth and civic stability. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals estimates billions in lost real estate activity due to underrepresentation and barriers to access. So when we say diversity is good business, we're not guessing — we're reading the data.

That means the real estate industry must now make a critical choice: Evolve or erode. History will remember which side we stood on.

Ryan Weyandt founded the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance and led the organization as CEO for nearly five years. He now runs his own consultancy, working with mission-driven businesses across the private and nonprofit sectors.