RPAC & REALTOR^® Party

PACs have been around since 1944 when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A Political Action Committee (PAC) is a popular term for a political committee organized by like-minded people, like REALTORS®, for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. The PAC’s money must come from voluntary contributions from members rather than the member’s dues treasury. PAC’s represent business, labor or ideological interests. PACs can give to a candidate committee per election (primary, general, run-off or special). They can also give up to any national party committee and annually to any other PAC. PACs may also receive contributions from any one individual.

In short, PACs merely represent a legal way for individuals to unite and ensure their voices are heard at all levels of government.

The REALTORS® Political Action Committee and other political fundraising are the keys to protecting and promoting the real estate industry. Take advantage of these programs, grants, promotional materials and fundraising tools to create a culture of RPAC engagement in your REALTOR® Association.

The REALTORS® Political Action Committee is the nation’s largest, most successful and most bipartisan political action committee. Your voluntary investment is used to improve your bottom line in several ways: Through issues mobilization, political advocacy and by directly supporting candidates at the local, state and federal levels of government who champion the ideals and principles of REALTORS®. RPAC is your best investment in real estate!

In addition to representing over 115,000 REALTOR^® members statewide, and more 1 million members nationwide, RPAC is also a monetary fund comprised of voluntary contributions from members. By members pulling together and contributing, RPAC is able to be a single unified voice for real estate in all levels of government.

Of every dollar you contribute, 30 cents goes to the National RPAC for grassroots activities and supporting candidates running for office on the federal level. The remaining 70 cents stays in Florida and is divided between the state and local associations to support state and local candidates and issues.

RPAC is neither a Republican nor a Democratic organization. Your contribution to RPAC is a vote for a pro-REALTOR^® Congress, regardless of political party.

No. The National RPAC Trustees’ policy is to only contribute to one candidate in any given election.

REALTOR® Party Major Investor Program consists of an elite and passionate group of REALTOR® investors who partner with NAR to shape the political future of the real estate industry. Members of the Major Investor Program are eligible to participate in the REALTOR® Party Recognition Program, with specific benefits and accolades that acknowledge their support of REALTOR® Party. With a minimum annual investment of $1,000, there are four levels within the REALTOR® Party Major Investor Program: Sterling R, Crystal R, Golden R and Platinum R.

Click here to learn more about the Major Investor Program.

Absolutely all of your contribution is used to elect pro-REALTOR^® candidates. 30% of your contribution is forwarded to the National RPAC to fund key U.S. House and Senate races; 70% remains in your state and is used for local and state elections.

No. Contributions used for political purposes are not tax deductible on your federal income taxes.

Under the cooperative agreements in effect between the National RPAC and the state associations’ PACs, the responsibility for making contributions to federal candidates is assigned to the national RPAC, while state associations’ PACs decide which state and local candidates to support.

No. Under federal election law, the earmarking of contributions is illegal.

The National Trustees’ policy is to act only on requests sent from state associations and signed off on by state trustees. Once the national trustees receive these requests, they have four options: Amend, Approve, Deny or Defer. The State Trustees use the same policy. Recommendations from State RPAC Trustees or Local Boards/Associations Congressional voting records and analyses of incumbent members of Congress Campaign intelligence reports provided by the NAR political and legislative staff.

No! But it does give us access. Candidates and public officials are honorable people whose votes are not for sale. But, by helping elect public policy decision-makers, RPAC assures REALTORS^® the opportunity to present our views and be heard. RPAC fully complies with all state and federal election laws.

Leading the National RPAC organization is the National RPAC Trustees. The Trustees establish and implement RPAC policy in accordance with the RPAC bylaws and NAR policy as established by the NAR Board of Directors. The Trustees consist of REALTOR^® volunteers from around the nation who are appointed by NAR leadership.

• RPAC believes that the people who raise RPAC dollars should have the greatest say in how those dollars are allocated. That’s why all candidate contribution decisions begin on the local level with REALTORS^® interviewing candidates and making their contributions based upon that information.
• It is REALTORS^®, not lobbyists, who have the most say in how RPAC’s money is spent. Contribution decisions are made by the RPAC Trustees; a nine-member REALTOR^® committee nominated by the FAR Nominating Committee and elected by the FAR membership to serve one-year terms.
• The main objective of the RPAC Trustees is to help elect candidates who support REALTOR^® issues. The decisions made by the RPAC Trustees rest on a candidate’s position on key real estate issues, the REALTOR^® relationship with a candidate in the home district, committee assignments and leadership position.

RPAC is the muscle behind NAR, Florida REALTORS^® and GTR. RPAC represents more than 1 million politically active REALTORS^® nationwide and more than 135,000 in Florida that members of Congress want as their friends. As many as 4,000 bills are introduced each session in the state Legislature. Elections decide who will be voting on these bills. RPAC helps elect the people who write the laws you and your business must live with. RPAC provides you with the opportunity to have a collective impact on the election of officials who will shape legislation that affects your livelihood and the way real estate professionals do business. Through extensive research and ongoing monitoring, RPAC keeps you informed, involved, and influential in the legislative decisions that are important to you and your business.

Recent legislative and regulatory successes include:

• The continued preservation of the mortgage interest deduction.
• Tax relief benefiting the real estate industry.
• Improving federal mortgage programs, allowing more families to join the ranks of homeownership.
• Eliminating burdensome regulations inhibiting environmental quality and healthy real estate markets.
• The continued preservation of the mortgage interest deduction;
• Tax relief benefiting the real estate industry;
• Improving federal mortgage programs, allowing more families to join the ranks of homeownership;
• Successfully keeping “mega-banks” from entering the real estate business

On a state and local level, RPAC has helped to:

• Protect commercial commissions through the foreclosure process;
• Prohibit cities and counties from charging individual real estate agents a business license fee;
• Fought and won a battle against a 100% increase in real estate transfer tax.

The dollar goal of the National RPAC, set by the National Trustees, is $25 per year per NAR member. At least $3 of that goes to the National RPAC. This goal is called “fair share.” To ensure that all states contribute their fair share to the RPAC effort, a state’s annual goal is determined by the number of members in that state based on the November 30 membership report. Likewise, the local fair share goal is determined by the number of members on record as of November 30 of the previous year and $25 per member is assessed as the “fair share” for each local association to raise.

According to federal election law, RPAC can solicit only individual members – i.e. non-corporate members of NAR and their families. The term “members” means all individuals who currently satisfy the requirements of membership in any one of the local, state and/or National Association and regularly pay dues.

Executive, administrative and management personnel of the local, state and/or national associations are also considered under the NAR constitution to be members of the association and are solicitable even though they may not pay association dues.

Personal dollars are contributions made with an individual’s personal funds including cash, personal credit cards, money orders and personal checks. Under federal election law, only personal dollar contributions can be used to fund legislative candidates running for office. Corporate dollars are contributions made by corporate checks. Corporate dollars can be used for issues campaigns, opportunity races, media buys and are deposited into a separate account at the national level to ensure they are not used by political candidates.