The Kansas Association of REALTORS® created this website to assist local board officers in their official duties as caretakers of their local boards of REALTORS®.
KAR congratulates you on your service to the association and we are here to help. Following are helpful links which will guide you through your duties as an officer of the local board and hopefully, make your time as an officer run as smoothly as possible! Thanks for your commitment to the association!
Click here to access a list of contact information for all Kansas Local REALTOR® boards.
Click here for a Local Board Jurisdiction map.
Click here for a KAR Zone map.
Many events and services of the Association/Board are coordinated and carried out by committees made up of members who volunteer their time and expertise to ensure that we have the best Association possible. Below you will find typical descriptions of committee duties. PLEASE NOTE: Not all of these committees are required, standing committees for local boards/associations. Please check your bylaws to see what your standing committees are.
Bylaws Committee - The Bylaws Committee is responsible for the technical wording of Bylaws changes as required. The Committee is responsible for the proper processing for general membership vote and to insure compliance with the National Association's Bylaws and Policies.
Education Committee - Recommend, develop and if necessary, conduct training and educational programs for Association members. Develop and conduct programs to encourage youth to enter the real estate profession. Design, plan and conduct the Association Orientation program.
Equal Opportunity Committee - The goal of this Committee is to ensure that REALTORS® do not deny equal professional services in the availability, representation, advertisements, sale or rental of real property. Provide educational programs to acquaint REALTORS® and to create a positive public position within the community in the fields of civil rights and equal housing opportunity.
Finance & Budget Committee - Responsible for the preparation, revision and audit of the Association's budget and make its presentation when appropriate. Plan for future financial requirements, anticipate future needs and recommend methods of obtaining needed revenues.
Grievance Committee - Conduct preliminary investigation and evaluations of a complaint, as required to determine whether the validity and substance of the complaint warrants further consideration by a Hearing Panel of the Professional Standards Committee.
Legislative & Political Affairs Committee - Establish programs to keep all REALTORS® informed of local, state, and national government activities which affect the industry. Respond to NAR's "Call to Action" request by studying the issued involved.
Membership Committee - Recommend and develop ways to encourage membership in the Local, State and National Associations. Review Membership applications to insure their conformance with the Association Bylaws. Assist in the continuous development and/or careful consideration of membership policies, which are appropriate, reasonable and non-discriminatory.
MLS Committee - The MLS Committee is responsible, in conjunction with the the Executive Officer (if applicable), for proper management of the business and affairs of the Multiple Listing Service. This is to be accomplished in accordance with the Bylaws and/or Rules and Regulations of the Service, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of the Association/Board of REALTORS®.
Professional Standards Committee - Responsible for conducting hearings in matters involving alleged ethical misconduct by Association Members or to provide Arbitration facilities as requested.
Public Relations Committee - Set goals, plan and develop programs and recommend policies designed to advance the term REALTOR® and its professional image by building public confidence and increasing public understanding and support.
REALTOR® Political Action Committee - Develops and implements a plan to collect at least a “fair share” contribution from each Association Member to reach fund raising goals set by the state.
The bylaws of all REALTOR® boards and associations states,
"ARTICLE XV RULES OF ORDER
Section 1. Robert's Rules of Order, latest edition, shall be recognized as the authority governing the meetings of the Board, its Board of Directors and committees, in all instances wherein its provisions do not conflict with these Bylaws."
If you don't have a copy of Robert's, visit this link for a great FAQs section on the Robert's Rules of Order website.
Additionally, NAR has a great resource called "The Answer Book." Look in the Parliamentary Procedures area for everything you need to conduct meetings and more.
Click here for an Installation of Officers script.
The KAR feels that all boards must be incorporated so as to protect themselves from potential liabilities. A corporation is a separate legal entity from the person who owns it. This means that if the corporation enters into business deals, owns property, borrows money or conducts other business activities that you, and your personal assets, will in most cases be protected from personal liability. Only the corporation's assets will be at risk to satisfy claims against the corporation. In other words, if someone were to sue the Local Board and said board wasn't incorporated, the suit would name every individual and their assets on that board. if the board was incorporated, the corporation and its assets would be named in the suit. Further, that corporation would be covered under the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® "Errors and Omissions and Directors and Officers Liability Insurance," which would protect all officers and staff of the corporation and further, the incorporated board could acquire their own insurance.
If you don't know if you board is incorporated, you can check the Secretary of State's online directory of Kansas Corporations to see if your board is incorporated and if so, what its current status is.
If you decide to pursue incorporation, the KAR can complete the process for you, from beginning to end, for a fee of $95, plus the $20 filing fee for your not-for-profit status. Please contact Maura Dingman at 800-366-0069, X2127 or mailto:mdingman@kansasrealtor.com?subject=Please%20help%20us%20with%20local%20board%20incorporation%21.
Click here to visit the Association Executive area of REALTOR.org. This website is filled with association policy information and documents. A great new resource for Local Board leaders is "The Answer Book." It is a living, online document being updated twice a year and has it all!
The National Association requires that Local Associations and Boards certify every three years to verify that they meet a minimum standard of service. Associations are now able to fill out the Organizational Standards forms online at realtor.org. Click here to access the NAR Online Organizational Standards Certification Form. For a schedule of boards and their recertification dates, click here.
Please call the State Association if you need any help with the documentation or email: mdingman@kansasrealtor.com.
For a comprehensive guide to MLS policy and documents, visit this area of Realtor.org If you haven't already, you will need to register on Realtor.org to access these documents.
Managing and protecting listing content is a paramount concern to real estate professionals and the multiple listing services in which they participate. In response to this concern, the National Association of REALTORS® has developed a toolkit to help facilitate the understanding and implementation of proper listing content management. The purpose of this toolkit it to assist brokers, agents, and multiple listing services in understanding the various assets they each control and how to secure and manage the contractual and intellectual property rights of the listing content. To access the toolkit for your local MLS, click here.
It is up to the Treasurer of the boards who don't have a staff person to process dues and membership transmittals for new members and to remit renewing dues for current ones. Click here to access the Local Board Membership website for information on processing dues and membership data. Another helpful document as it relates to membership is Board of Choice FAQs. This document will answer a lot of questions related to membership for REALTORS.
Another responsibility of all boards is to orient their new members to the governing documents of all levels of the association. KAR has created an Online Orientation for use by local boards in meeting this responsibility. To visit the KAR Online Orientation website, click here.
The governing documents of your board are the roadmap to running your association. NAR requires all boards and associations to have them reviewed at least every two years, although, typically, mandatory changes to the model documents are made yearly. KAR can help you keep up your documents with Automatic Governing Documents Updates. For just $90 per year, per document, KAR will update your docs and send them to NAR for review. For more information, contact Maura Dingman at 800-366-0069, X2127 or email Maura Dingman. To access all the latest REALTOR® board/association documents, visit the Model Documents area of the REALTOR.org website by clicking here. You will need to logon to the REALTOR.org website before viewing/downloading these documents. If you haven't registered on REALTOR.org before, you will need your NRDS ID. If you don't know that number, email Maura Dingman.
