A recently introduced bill in Texas seeks to eliminate the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) speech code within the state and to bar any other trade associations from taking similar action.
Texas S.B. 2713, introduced by Mayes Middleton (R), explicitly bans any trade association from “denying access, membership, or participation based on various factors, including race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, or an individual’s exercise of freedom of speech or assembly.
This prohibition stands regardless of any conflicting provisions in an association’s or organization’s bylaws. If passed, the bill would take effect on Sept. 1.
A person believing they’ve been subject to a violation of the new law could bring legal action against the professional or trade association for injunctive relief or damages, the bill states.
Pushback to NAR rule
Rob Hahn, the founder and CEO of Las Vegas-based online property exchange Decentre Labs, shared his thoughts on the legislation in a blog post.
“Most of you know that I have been railing against the unjust and utterly idiotic NAR Speech Code ever since it was proposed,” Hahn wrote. “I have interviewed three Realtors who were persecuted for their beliefs and for their speech under Standard of Practice 10-5; Brandon Huber, Wilson Fauber, and Chad DeVries. I have called on NAR to repeal the speech code for self-preservation purposes, if not moral reasons.
“I knew that those individuals and others have been fighting for their freedom of speech, for their religious beliefs, and for their right of conscience. And at last, there is a glimmer of hope.”
In December, the Virginia Association of Realtors ruled that Fauber violated NAR’s speech code through multiple social media posts.
Huber, a Montana Realtor and pastor, accused NAR of engaging in “anti-Christian bigotry” after he was fined and suspended from the Missoula Organization of Realtors for reportedly expressing his views on homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community.
DeVries filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR) in July 2024, alleging that AAR did not have authority over his personal conduct, which allegedly included social media posts deemed to be discriminatory.
Digging into the speech code
On Jan. 1, NAR posted an updated summary of its speech code provisions, which included revisions made after its initial passage in 2020 passage.
“Standard of Practice 10-5 is not focused on types of speech that might be subjectively deemed ‘offensive’ or ‘discriminatory’ by one person and not another,” NAR stated. “The Standard of Practice is based on very particular types of speech that are directly connected to the protected classes of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity under Article 10.
“Only the use of harassing speech, hate speech, epithets and slurs based on the protected classes of Article 10 are prohibited. The terms ‘harassing speech,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘epithets,’ and ‘slurs’ can be commonly understood by use of a dictionary as well as other easily available references. For example, NAR’s Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy clearly defines ‘harassment’ and ‘sexual harassment.’”
NAR said its definition of harassment includes inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture based on another person’s sex, color, race, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and any other protected characteristic.
In addition to epithets, slurs or negative stereotyping, NAR cited threatening, intimidating or hostile acts, denigrating jokes, and the display or circulation of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility toward an individual or group based on a protected characteristic as examples of harassment.
Lead-up to the rule
A three-year investigation by Newsday, which was made public in 2019, played a role in rallying support for NAR’s speech code.
Findings showed widespread discriminatory behavior among real estate agents in Long Island, New York — with evidence suggesting that brokers subjected minority testers to unequal treatment compared to white testers.
Black testers experienced discrimination 49% of the time compared with 39% for Hispanics and 19% for Asians.
In 8% of Newsday’s tests, agents reportedly accommodated white testers while imposing more stringent conditions on minorities, which amounted to a denial of equal service.
“This is something that didn’t happen in the deep South,” Greg Squires, professor of public policy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said in the report.
Additionally, a RE/MAX agent in Denver was fired in August 2020 for removing “Black Lives Matter” signs from yards. And a San Antonio Realtor was fired from Keller Williams the following month for threatening to “hunt” Black Lives Matter protesters on a Facebook post.
