The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and its CEO Nykia Wright have broadly acknowledged that things within the trade organization need to change. And while the trade group and its leadership team have taken steps in that direction, meeting with members across the country and pushing for improved transparency through efforts via its 2026-2028 Strategic Plan, some industry leaders don’t feel like this is enough.
“NAR has this huge outreach program, and they are saying that they are having ‘hundreds of conversations’ — which they are, but when it comes down it, the actions that they have taken have been either willfully inadequate or they just aren’t doing anything,” said Dan Duffy, the CEO of United Real Estate Group and the appointed spokesperson for the otherwise anonymous 15-member working group.
Had to go public due to lack of response
Initially, Duffy said the group did not want to go public with their efforts, but due to the lack of action on the part of NAR, he said they felt it was a necessary step.
“The reasons we are going public now is because we realized that change is not going to happen fast enough or be substantial enough if we do not keep the pressure on,” Duffy said. “We are doing this for every agent in the industry, we don’t care what brand they are from, the industry as a whole needs NAR to make changes.”
According to Duffy, the precursor to the formal working group began percolating over a year ago, as disgruntled large brokers left out of the NAR’s $418 million commission lawsuit settlement agreement met to air their grievances and discuss the changes they felt were needed within NAR.
What is now known as the Pro-Agent Restore Trust in NAR Working Group was formed in April 2025 and in the ensuing months the group said it has held multiple meetings with NAR via Zoom and has met with NAR in person. Through internal discussion and these meetings with NAR, Duffy said the working group has settled on six key issues it would like NAR to address.
“The outcome of the commission lawsuits was incredibly damaging to a lot of companies financially,” said Duffy. “And the perception of the overall industry and the reputation of agents was just thrown against the wall because it was made to seem that we were all part of this conspiracy.”
The need for independent governance
The issues the group has identified include the potential legal exposure caused by the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) in its current form, the legal risks imposed by the three-way Realtor membership agreement, the need for more transparency surrounding NAR’s restructuring plan, an increased need for independent governance, what they perceive as NAR’s “bloated” balance sheet, which they feel makes it a potential target for lawsuits, and for the disclosure of NAR’s financial interests in Second Century Ventures and how this NAR subsidiary benefits NAR members.
Duffy said the group feels that the most pivotal issue is the need for independent governance within NAR.
“The leadership team of NAR is the real board because that is where everything happens — they are the final arbiter of strategy, budget, everything,” Duffy said. “But when you look at that team, every single person there has worked their way up through volunteer boards and committees. Everyone there is well equipped to be in a senior leadership position, but the problem is, there is no divergence of opinions. Everyone got there by being agreeable to the ecosystem.”
According to the working group, volunteer leaders are more likely to get promoted within the organization if they are agreeable and toe the organization’s line.
“None of them come from an outside publicly traded company or another nonprofit or are maybe the founder of a technology company,” Duffy said.
The working group is pressing to include independent board members like these on the leadership team because they say they would have the ability to speak up and bring outside perspective, preventing questionable decisions, or choices that increase legal risk from being made.
“Independent board members would fix everything because one of them would stand up and say, ‘We need to hire an outside attorney to look at this,’ or ask if a compensation plan is appropriate or competitive,” Duffy said. “That would stop things before they happened.”
Ideally what they want to see is a small board with an odd number of members, with an equal number of independent and industry directors who are voted for certain term lengths. The final board member would be the CEO who will hold the only permanent position.
Not more governance, just independent board members
“I want to be clear,” Duffy said, “We aren’t asking for more governance or for NAR to do more to govern brokers and agents. We are asking for them to have more independent governance inside their four walls and, if anything else, we want NAR to do less and stay in their lane.”
While Duffy said the group is frustrated by NAR’s lack of action toward making any significant changes, they are optimistic that the changes and actions they hope to see are possible.
Just the start
“Right now, we are just in a rain band, the real excitement and energy around making change is the hurricane and the eye-wall is still off shore, but it is coming,” Duffy said. “This is the start of a campaign until change is made, and it is going to come closer and closer to shore and eventually it is going to hit.”
For its part, NAR said it has had “productive conversations with this group” and looks “forward to continuing [its] conversations in the future.”
“While NAR will respect the privacy and confidentiality of these conversations and correspondence, we appreciate that industry leaders are, as they said, genuinely interested in being positive contributors to the process that NAR and its leadership team are undertaking to restore trust in NAR,” a NAR spokesperson wrote in an email.