The National Association of REALTORS®’ ethics requirement gives members until Dec. 31, 2016, to take an approved ethics course. And given the average real estate practitioner’s penchant for operating on a just-in-time basis, associations are scheduling eleventh-hour ethics courses for members in December. Yet associations have reported high early compliance rates during this ethics cycle. As of September, 98 percent of members at the Central Hill Country Board of REALTORS®, Texas, have completed training, according to Lisia Amburn, AE. At the REALTORS® of South Central Kansas, nearly 80 percent of members had taken their Code of Ethics course as of September, says Cindi Ferguson, e-PRO, the association’s director of professional development.
Training must be no less than two-and-a-half hours of instructional time every four years, and members can take the course in a number of ways. NAR’s online ethics course remains a popular option. The new interactive online REALTOR® Code of Ethics training course ($29.95) offers an estimated three credit hours of continuing education in many states, and is available on the Center for REALTOR® Development at onlinelearning.realtor. The free online course option is available at nar.realtor.