Will NAR’s Speech Code Be Shot Down in Texas?

Recently, a notable opinion column ran in Real Estate News. Ryan Weyandt, a real estate consultant, wrote: “There’s no place for hate speech in real estate.”

That’s also the view of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), which in 2020 etched this position into its formal Code of Ethics, binding NAR’s agents.

Why is this news? Because a Texas lawmaker who wants to stamp out NAR’s rule has found backers, and SB 2713 passed the Senate this month. If it passes in the House and is signed into law, NAR will no longer be allowed to use its Code of Ethics to protect residents of Texas from racial and sexual harassment. Nor will any other trade association.

The law would take effect in Texas on September 1, 2025. 

NAR’s Speech Code: What’s In It?

NAR’s Standard of Practice 10-5, a.k.a. speech code, rules out the use of harassing speech, hate speech, or insults related to race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. NAR’s Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy lays out the meaning of harassment, so that people can tell what’s actually considered harmful. “Harassment” covers:

• Actions, comments, signs, and gestures.

• Racial slurs, denigrating jokes, and negative stereotyping.

• Threats, intimidation, or the distribution of material that is hostile to an individual or group.

Consider any of the above speech and conduct from the simple perspective of support for deed transfers. If agents aren’t respectful and welcoming, there’s less choice in the market for people who are considered members of minority groups. Deed transactions suffer. Or, put another way…

Respect Is Good Business.

Studies have shown that inclusive businesses outperform others, on average. This makes sense on a practical level. Consider, for example, that Hispanics will make up the largest segment of new homeowners by 2040. Can real estate businesses step up and accommodate most of their future clients?

They have some changes to make. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals says billions of dollars are lost to the market because it often neglects these clients.

And if the industry’s representatives are hostile to potential clients, as Ryan Weyandt put the point, “we will not just lose credibility, we will lose business.”

Weyandt’s feet are planted in both the real estate world and the real world. As stated in a bio provided by Real Estate News, Weyandt founded the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance.

Here’s the Backstory on the NAR Speech Code.

Real-life examples of inhospitable speech and conduct prompted NAR to create its speech code in 2020.

In 2019, Newsday published the outcome of its three-year investigation into hate speech. The publication was a catalyst for NAR’s decision to draft a speech code.

Multiple, serious patterns of discrimination had turned up in the real estate industry in Long Island, New York. Newsday carried out tests that showed a significant number of agents cutting slack for white clients and not for clients in minority households. African Americans experienced the highest rates of discrimination, followed by Hispanics and then Asians.

Then, in 2020, a RE/MAX agent in Denver was found pulling up Black Lives Matter yard signs. Also in 2020, a San Antonio agent working with Keller Williams posted a threat on Facebook about hunting  Black Lives Matter advocates. These incidents attracted the kind of negative attention that showed, to say the least, that acting on race-based sentiment is not great for a broker’s business. The brokers took action, dismissing both of these agents.

In December, a state NAR association fined and suspended one of its members, a Montana pastor. The pastor slammed NAR for “anti-Christian bigotry” for condemning his posts against the LGBT+ community on social media. State NAR groups have faced lawsuits from agents who say NAR is infringing on their individual rights.

Now, the Texas Senate Has Taken on NAR.

A partisan bill has taken aim at the National Association of REALTORS® speech code. The point is to stop NAR or any other professional groups from establishing anti-discrimination codes in Texas. The Texas Senate has voted to prevent these groups from making membership hinge on respectful speech and conduct. The law frames this as a First Amendment right to freedom of speech or assembly — unless the speaker is directly inciting criminal activity or threatening actual violence against someone.

Ryan Weyandt disagrees, insisting that “undermining the dignity of those we serve is not a right.”

When agents apply for NAR membership, Weyandt notes, they are requesting admittance to an association in the private sector. Professional trade groups are fully within their rights to set rules. And for the National Association of REALTORS®, the rules of membership are laid out in the Code of Ethics.

This new Texas law is just one example, writes Weyandt, of “state leaders failing to act in the best interests of their people.”

Justin Ziegler, national president of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, told HousingWire that the NAR speech code is not a luxury, but a necessity. Ziegler points to the lack of safeguards in the federal Fair Housing Act for the LGBTQ+ community. That leaves LGBTQ+ people vulnerable in the majority of states. Professional ethics codes are an important recourse for those who face discrimination in transactions.

A Matter of “Misplaced Nostalgia”?

But there are real estate influencers who say agents’ speech should not be restricted at all, even though they might, in fact, undermine the dignity and safety of their own client base.

Ryan Weyandt believes some people are steeped in “misplaced nostalgia.” They think political correctness has gone too far. They think it’s infringing on people’s freedom to speak and act as they wish.

But a rule designed to prevent hate speech is not oppression, Weyandt insists. And NAR is right to be doing all it can to address discrimination in real estate — especially given its own history of exclusive and harmful practices.

In 1972 NAR’s Code of Ethics finally made a statement against discrimination. Before that time, NAR was a supporter of deed restrictions that kept non-whites out of developments. NAR’s support for redlining harmed people who could have otherwise bought homes and accumulated wealth for their families. Now, states are trying to undo the damage.

The Texas Senate’s partisan move to micromanage trade associations sets a bad example. Because a level playing field is much better for our society as a whole. And a welcoming real estate industry is good for deeds.