Volunteer National Association of Realtors’ leaders received perks and payment that lawyers say could run afoul of US tax laws, according to an investigation by the Times published on Monday.
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National Association of Realtors volunteer leaders are paid lavish stipends and other benefits that may skirt U.S. tax laws for nonprofits, according to a bombshell investigation published by The New York Times on Monday.
The perks didn’t just apply to members of leadership. In addition to former CEO Bob Goldberg’s $2.6 million annual salary, NAR agreed to cover the cost of private clubs in Chicago and Washington along with up to $75,000 of the initiation fee plus dues at a country club near his home in Maryland and may still be remunerating him as a paid consultant, according to the report.
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Members of the leadership team have received corporate credit cards that were used for expensive dinners, golf outings and other perks at resorts and events like tickets for themselves and family members to see plays on Broadway.
The investigation included insights from attorneys who questioned whether the spending was legal.
“It is highly unusual — I would even say virtually unheard-of — for volunteer leaders and officers to receive compensation at those levels,” Jeff Tenenbaum, a nonprofit lawyer in Washington, D.C., told The New York Times. “Many of us who practice association antitrust law have always wondered, ‘How can they get away with this?’”
NAR President Kevin Sears
Another attorney told The Times that nonprofit groups run the risk of losing their tax exemption if their members violate tax laws by engaging in unreasonable expenses and private benefits.
The report comes as NAR has spent the year looking to improve its standing among members who are openly questioning the value provided by the organization and its state and local counterparts, to which they pay annual dues.
The reporter spoke with 18 former officers and former and current NAR employees as part of the investigation. She also obtained recordings of a private conversation by CEO Nykia Wright from October and Goldberg’s confidential employment contract from 2017.
NAR spokesman Mantill Williams told The Times that being involved in leadership “requires a substantial time commitment, personal sacrifice and significant travel,” and noted that leaders are working real estate professionals who give up professional time to serve in those positions.
In response to questions from Inman about whether it has implemented recent changes or if it disputes any of the report’s findings, NAR declined to comment.
The report relied in part on publicly available tax filings by the nonprofit trade organization. Inman has previously reported that members of the NAR leadership team are paid seven-figure stipends.
Past NAR president Charles Oppler received an annual payment of $294,798 in 2021, and president-elect Leslie Rouda Smith received $251,788, Inman previously reported, using the latest available tax filings.
Former NAR CEO Dale Stinton received $250,000 as a consultant for the organization in 2021. Asked at the time whether NAR was continuing to pay Stinton as a consultant and whether Goldberg would have a similar deal when he retired, NAR declined to comment, saying its employment contracts are confidential.
Bob Goldberg
The Times pointed out that Goldberg has listed himself on LinkedIn as an executive consultant for NAR, though it’s not clear what role he plays, how much he’s being paid and what other perks he might be receiving from the organization.
Leaders could also take spouses with them on business trips, which would involve first-class airfare, according to The Times’ report.
Former officials told The Times that they rarely filed expense reports and that they used their corporate credit cards from NAR instead. Once, after leaders ran up the tab buying tickets for the hit play “Hamilton,” the organization’s bookkeepers began to tamp down spending.
The report also outlined other perks given to Goldberg, who received a $1,500 car allowance and $2,250 each month to help cover the costs of utilities and insurance at a residence he kept near NAR headquarters in Chicago, plus a pet sitter for his two dogs while he traveled.