Realtors Held Hostage

Raleigh area Realtors Becky Harper and Carlton Brown have written an op-ed about the special assessment imposed on members by the North Carolina Association of Realtors for the political Issues Mobilization Fund. The article appeared in this morning's Raleigh News & Observer.

  Realtors Held Hostage

Realtors statewide have received a $70 mandatory assessment levied by the N.C. Association of Realtors to replenish its Issues Mobilization Fund. The Realtors association will use this money to pay for lobbying against things such as proposed stormwater management rules in coastal counties and Jordan Lake, and against steep-slope building restrictions in the mountains.

Every Realtor is forced to pay these fees. Failure to pay will eliminate access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the essential tool of a Realtor's trade.

The association has created a myth that it speaks for a huge constituency of committed members and has backed this up with its deep pockets. Its leadership, staff and paid lobbyists have used this massive fund to advance an agenda with little meaningful input from the thousands of residential Realtors who pay their dues just to maintain MLS access.