My report is focused on the NAR core standards and our Boards position in regards to these requirements. I have just returned from the OAR AE seminar that was held in Dayton. One of the main focuses of this seminar was the new NAR requirements. We have 48 Boards in Ohio and at this time we are the 10th largest in the state. 23 Boards had AE’s and staff at these meeting, with all of the larger boards in attendance except for Toledo. The exchange of information was good at the meetings and OAR has pledged to help local Boards with the compliance issues to insure Boards that want to comply have the resources to do so.
As the standards have been presented we have two items that will require a large amount of time to complete to be in full compliance.
•We need to have a formal Strategic Plan in place by June 30, 2015. This plan needs to be crafted in a way that we can add items to the plan as we accomplish goals of the plan. In order to meet the deadline the Directors need to establish a work group to help with this plan.
•We need to formalize our Professional Standards processes to include our mediation program. Another option would be an Ombudsman program. The directors need to set up a work group to determine the best program for our members.
Another area that we have been working on is a review and updating of our By-laws. All by-laws of local Boards need to be in agreement with NAR’s model template. We had already started this project so we have a leg up on this area. As a reminder any changes to the by-laws need member approval, so to comply with the NAR time line I recommend that we have our by-laws ready for approval in the fall. If the membership requires changes, we then would have enough time to make revisions and take another vote.
NAR’s focus on the updating of requirements for local Boards has started the clock ticking, and I want to ensure that we are not rushed to make hasty decisions. I have been working with our staff to make sure we have the research work completed to assist the Directors in this project.
Another component of NAR’s focus is advocacy to the public. The push is for the local Boards to become the go to source for all real estate information. They are requiring that we work with local media to provide accurate market data. The discussion at OAR on this item was a request from AE’s to have the state look into a single static provider for all Boards. The request was for OAR to look into the vendor 10K to become the provider for the entire state. This would eliminate the need for our Board to have an agreement with Trends Graphic. I will report as this information develops.
Our charitable outreach is in the process of being restructured to allow IRS tax exempt status for donations. Our membership has been extremely involved over the years and this just needs to have a more formal structure to comply with both IRS and NAR rules.
I will be looking forward to the NAR Leadership meetings in Chicago this year, to hear the developments that are coming forward. Our industry is at a crossroad and our Board is positioned to well to comply with NAR’s requirements.
Respectively submitted,
David W Freitag CEO