The National Assn. of REALTORS® has taken some pages from Tom Delay's recent best-seller on governance, "A True Ethicist's Guide to Redistricting." In stealth maneuvers during a national election cycle when the populace was concerned with weighty issues such as Mary Cheney's sexual orientation, NAR beefed up its director rolls by some 8.8% with 75 new large firm representatives (LFR) and established a much needed 2005 Large Broker Advisory Group. (There are no small firm or medium firm advisory groups to this blogger's knowledge.) It appears that at least 12 of those advisory group members belong to The Realty Alliance, a group of large brokers that strongly supports the entry of federally chartered banks into the real estate industry.
"Large Brokers Advisory Council - The Large Brokers' Advisory Council consists of 22 of the 100 largest real estate firms. The Council provides meaningful discussion with the heads of the larger real estate companies in the United States and the chief elected and staff officers of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The Council acts directly with the President and Executive Vice President of NAR to help NAR become more relevant and meaningful to the largest companies in the NAR membership."--NAR
Delay's home state saw its director rolls increased 11% with new LFRs, upping the LFR vote from 16% of the total to a 26% share of the Longhorn vote...Ohio increased LFR strength from 1 to 7, giving LFRs a 21% share vs. the 3.7% it had previously...Colorado tripled its large firm vote from 1 to a total of 3 or 13, or a 23% share of the state's vote... Pennsylvania, always a battleground state, saw its large firm vote increase from 21% to 31% with 3 new LFRs...West Virginia, it seems, was LFR deficient with a 31% LFR vote; an additional 3 votes brings the LFR vote to some 43.7% of the total.
CORRECTION AUGUST 2, 2005: It was brought to my attention today that the introduction of Large Firm Representatives to the NAR Board of Directors was achieved in 2000, not 2004. The total number of non-LFRs would probably be less in 2004 since the total REALTOR roll has increased appreciably since that time. The numbers cited in the paragraph above remain true in terms of states' balance of LFR vs. non LFR representation in 2005. Percentage increases in 2000 may be higher, in fact, in light of an overall lower REALTOR census at that time. Delay's book about ethics and redistricting was still a work in progress.
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