NAR trades MLS advisory board for ‘work groups’
One new group will tackle listing broker attribution, IDX and VOW policy modernization, and the “reimagining” of mandatory policies in the NAR MLS handbook.
The National Association of Realtors assured multiple listing service executives of its continued support at last month's Realtors Legislative Meetings. At the same time, the trade group announced that it will sunset the advisory board that has served as the birthplace of NAR's MLS policies.
"As you're seeing with [NAR CEO] Nykia [Wright] and our leadership team, nothing is untouched … and we are looking at new ways to do things that we think are more responsive and nimble in addressing the challenges that we face," NAR Senior Director of Engagement Rodney Gansho said in a closed meeting of the NAR Multiple Listing Service Issues and Policies Committee.
Though the committee meeting was closed to the press for the second year in a row, Real Estate News was able to obtain a recording of the session.
The 'new NAR': The MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board, a subset of the MLS committee, has until now been where MLS-related topics and policy proposals were introduced, debated and refined before being rejected, tabled or presented to the full MLS committee for consideration.
That advisory board will be replaced with work groups that the MLS committee will put together targeting problems as they arise, "where we can identify specific individuals with the skills and experience needed to deal with those issues," Gansho said.
He portrayed the move as "an example of the new NAR: the new approach supporting MLS — not vacating MLS — supporting MLS in new, better ways to move us forward."
'Issue-driven and responsive' work groups: In a Realtor News op-ed titled "NAR and MLS Committees — How We're Getting More With Less," the advisory board's chair, Michelle Bailey, also stressed that the work groups will "complement NAR's larger commitment to MLS support."
"These groups will be issue-driven and responsive to real-time market dynamics," Bailey wrote. "It's the right model to gather the right expertise at the right time, ensuring MLS-related developments continue to receive focused, timely attention without interruption."
In the closed meeting, Bailey told the committee that the advisory board has formed a work group to explore several new initiatives before dissolving. These include:
Modernizing IDX and VOW policies
"Reimagining" the mandatory policies of the NAR MLS handbook
Phase 2 of NAR's risk mitigation review of existing policies
Listing broker attribution in listing photos and videos
According to Bailey, leaders of the MLS committee will be able to use the expertise profiles NAR introduced earlier this year as part of its committee application process to "assemble the most qualified group of advisors" among NAR's members to serve on work groups.
More change is coming: The MLS committee is currently reviewing the criteria for serving on the committee itself and considering its optimal size, Bailey said. "We hope to have more specifics in the fall," she added.
In her op-ed, Bailey said evaluating committee structure is part of NAR's strategic plan and that she looks forward "to further consolidation that will strengthen our governance, increase efficiencies and ensure NAR can remain as dynamic as the real estate industry."