Fair Housing Requirement

NAR’s Board of Directors approved a new policy during the May 2023 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings that institutes a Fair Housing training requirement for all members. The policy is based on a recommendation created by a work group composed of members of the Fair Housing Committee, Professional Development Committee, Association Executives Committee, and Membership Policy and Board Jurisdiction Committee (the recommendation was presented to the Board by the latter).

Not necessarily! At Home with Diversity and Bias Override satisfy the course requirements, and Fairhaven, a fair housing simulation training that helps REALTORS® identify, prevent, and address discriminatory practices in real estate, will be updated to meet the 2- hour requirement and serve as a no-cost option.

2 hours of instructional time meets the learning objectives and topics that the Board of Directors felt are necessary to cover in a quality Fair Housing course, while also considering the average length of Fair Housing courses that are currently mandated by some state licensing authorities. Also of note, 2 hours would be the minimum - several of the current NAR offerings that would satisfy the requirement (At Home With Diversity, Bias Override) are slightly longer.

The requirement lines up with the current Code of Ethics training cycle to ease the burden on local associations and avoid confusing members.

Several reasons: - To mindfully avoid confusing members by adding requirements during an education cycle that has already begun. - To give associations time to prepare any equivalent options they may wish to offer. - To allow NAR to create a more comprehensive version of Fairhaven, as well as a new anti-bias course with a non-residential focus.

The model already in use to decide whether Code of Ethics courses will count for equivalency credit will be used for this requirement as well. Local and state associations can create and approve their own equivalent courses based on the 2 -hour minimum and set of learning objectives created by NAR. Third-party providers may also partner with local and state associations to create equivalency courses, with those local and state associations approving based on the 2-hour minimum and learning objectives. This is identical to how Code of Ethics equivalencies are currently determined.

Tracking this requirement will be done through M1, identical to how the Code of Ethics course is currently tracked.

The requirement applies to all REALTORS®, regardless of specialty, and includes options (such as Bias Override and a to-be-developed non-residential course) that go beyond residential brokerage and are applicable and educational for all members.

Members who complete At Home With Diversity or Fairhaven as part of their C2EX course work after 1/1/2025 will satisfy their Fair Housing requirement.