The following changes to the Code of Ethics took effect January 1, 2022. These changes were recommended by NAR’s Professional Standards Committee and approved by the NAR Board of Directors.

  1. Amended Standard of Practice 12-1, which now provides that REALTORS® must not represent that their brokerage services are free or available at no cost to their clients unless the REALTOR® will receive no financial compensation from any source for those services.

    This is in line with the changes made to NAR’s MLS Policy Statement 8.4, which prohibits MLS participants and subscribers from representing that their brokerage services are free.

  2. Amended Standard of Practice 1-8 to include:
    Upon the written request of the listing broker who submits a counter-offer to the buyer’s/tenant’s broker, the buyer’s/tenant’s broker shall provide, as soon as practical, a written affirmation to the listing broker stating that the counter-offer has been submitted to the buyers/tenants, or a written notification that the buyers/tenants have waived the obligation to have the counter-offer presented.

    This is in line with Standard of Practice 1-7, which requires the listing broker to provide a similar written affirmation to the buyer’s/tenant’s broker that an offer was submitted to the seller/landlord.

  3. Adopted two new case interpretations regarding Article 10 of the Code of Ethics: See Case #10-10, Use of Speech or Ideas Included in Religious Doctrine, and Case #10-11, Display of Symbols, at nar.realtor/code-of-ethics-and-arbitration-manual/case-interpretations-related-to-article-10.