NAR: Stop calling yourself a ‘top Realtor’ 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Have you ever used the term "licensed Realtor," or referred to yourself or another agent as a "top Realtor" in your area? Does the legal name of your business include the term "Realtors"?

If so, the National Association of Realtors wants you to stop using its trademark incorrectly.

"When we think of the Realtor mark, we need to remember that it only has one meaning and that is: a member of the National Association of Realtors," NAR Senior Counsel of Trademarks Sammy Moskowitz told attendees at the Realtors Legislative Meetings on June 16.

"It does not mean a job title or credential, and it is not a license or a certification," Moskowitz emphasized during the Risk Management Issues Committee meeting.

'Realtor' as a mark of 'higher quality'

As part of its three-year strategic plan, which includes "elevating" the Realtor brand, NAR launched an inter-departmental brand protection team earlier this year focused on preventing trademark misuse and coordinating branding across platforms and audiences. 

The trade group is pushing back against the common use of "Realtor" among consumers, real estate agents and brokers alike as a generic term for "real estate professional." That effort has included policing the use of the trademark "Realtor" not just outside of NAR, but also among the trade group's own 1.4 million members. 

"A trademark is a brand or a word or a design that indicates to consumers the quality of the goods and services that you are going to be receiving," Moskowitz told attendees. 

"When we see the word Realtor in the marketplace, we want consumers to understand the higher quality of real estate representation that they will be receiving when they work [with] a Realtor."

The 'member test'

At the conference, Moskowitz recommended a simple wording swap to determine if the trademarked term is being used properly.

"When you are going to use the word 'Realtor' in a sentence, in your everyday conversation, in an email, in your social media handle, you use the 'member' test, which means that you substitute the word 'member' for 'Realtor' to determine if the use is proper," Moskowitz said.

Per the test, the sentence "How many Realtors will be at the state association meeting today?" is correct, but "John Doe is a lawyer and a licensed Realtor" is not, she said.

Breaking the rules?

Moskowitz went into more detail about the proper use of "Realtor" — and the potential misuse by many real estate professionals. 

The term is not "descriptive," she noted, meaning a NAR member may not precede Realtor with words like "top," "your," "No. 1" or a place name, such as "Chicago Realtor."

"[W]e are trying to use the term Realtor to distinguish between members and non-members, not between all of us as members," Moskowitz said.

While Realtor can be used in connection with a member's personal or business name, it may not be part of the legal name or DBA of a business that is registered with the state.

To attendees who may have just realized they were running afoul of the rules, Moskowitz said, "That's okay — self-correct. We don't even have to know about them, OK? You guys can go and change it with the state and just take out the word Realtor."

A focus on 'education,' not punishment

Moskowitz pointed members to NAR's Membership Marks Manual, which she said the trade group is in the process of updating, and to NAR's Realtor Brand Infringement Intake Form.

"If you see misuse by other people — other members, other non-members — please report it to us," she said, adding that "no one is going to be getting in trouble."

"This is all about education," she said. "They will receive a very nice email from their local association asking that they correctly use this. You're not going on a list or anything like that."