RACI Newsletter

What does the registered trademark and logo of the REALTOR(R) association mean? (Back)

Published by Renee on Nov 23, 2009

Why does the public think all real estate licensees are REALTORS(r)?  We've all seen headlines about a "REALTOR" involved in mortgage fraud or some other illegal activity when they were actually just real estate licensees and not members of the association.

At one time, a local Ivy Tech sent out a flyer of their upcoming classes listing one class as "REALTOR licensing class". After ignoring several letters from the local association, it took a letter from NAR's legal team to get them to change the name of the class to "Real Estate licensing" class.

Unfortunately, much of the blame can be atributed to our own members. We misuse the registered trademarks and the R logo. In many of our ads, web pages, signage, etc. the word "REALTOR" is wrongly used.

REALTOR(r) doesn't mean "real estate agent". It means, member of the local, state and national associations of REALTORS(R).

Phrases such as "your number 1 REALTOR ", "The neighborhood REALTOR", "home of the professional REALTORS(r), etc. are all misuses. Since REALTOR(R) means "member" substituting that word shows these phrases really don't make sense:

"Your number 1 member", The neighborhood member, Home of the professional members 

These phases sound better: Your number 1 real estate agent, the neighborhood real estate agent, home of the professional real estate agents.

Using the trademark and logo as they should be used will help the public to understand the difference between a REALTOR(r) and a real estate agent.

For more information concerning the "marks" and "logo", visit www.realtor.org and search on "Membership Marks Manual".