In a previous post of mine I spoke to the serious impending drop in Realtor membership. Some associations are reporting as much as 40%. Those “in the know” in southeast Florida are predicting at least 30% in our area. Our association over the past 5 years has almost double in membership size. They’ve cut membership fees and added many value added no fee services especially in the area of technology.
This anticipated drop in membership is going to quickly equate into a major loss of revenue for all of the associations.
I was asked by one of our association’s directors recently as a broker/owner what my preference would be: increase in membership fees or a reduction in the valued added no fee services? My reply was quick: How about collecting membership fees from the thousands of associate licensees that are employed by a Realtor/Broker but are not paying Realtor membership dues?
Now, before everyone jumps on my case and states “you must be a Realtor if your broker is a Realtor” is not a true statement. The Realtor associations cannot force a Realtor/Broker to be a Realtor. They all do however have a bylaw that charges that the Realtor/Broker’s annual dues are to be determined by the number of associates employed by that Realtor/Broker. Should those associates be paying their own Realtor dues then the Realtor/Broker is not charged for those fees. I have provided below that section of our local association’s bylaw.
There are literally thousands of licensees that claim to be a Realtor but are not. I had one state when I inquired, “are you a Realtor?” – she replied, “yes, but I am not a member of the board”. Go figure…. Conservative estimates are that an association can estimate that the number of Realtor/Broker employed licensees that are not paying membership dues is approximately 20% of their current membership. I personally know of one office with 66 associates and only 44 are Realtors. I know that Realtor/Broker is not paying those dues for the unpaid 22 associates.
My message is simple and I would gratefully appreciate other comments and replies to this issue from all of you out there. I would like to present these replies to our directors at the next opportunity before they consider raising our fees or cutting our services. COLLECT THE MONEY THAT IS NOT BEING COLLECTED FROM THOSE BROKERS THAT PERMIT NON REALTOR ASSOCIATES TO OPERATE UNDER THEIR LICENSE.
Article X - Dues And Assessments
Model Board Bylaws
Section 2. Dues. The annual dues of Members shall be as follows: (a) REALTOR Members. The annual dues of each Designated REALTOR Member shall be an amount as established annually by the Board of Directors plus an amount as established annually by the Board of Directors times the number of real estate salespersons and licensed or certified appraisers who (1) are employed by or affiliated as independent contractors, or who are otherwise directly or indirectly licensed with such REALTOR Member, and (2) are not REALTOR Members of any Board in the state or a state contiguous thereto or Institute Affiliate Members of the Board.
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