Realtors’ board
lowers proposed
listing fees

The board had passed an
80 percent fee hike for a
listing service

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By Lyn Danninger
Star-Bulletin

In the face of member opposition, the Honolulu Board of Realtors' board of directors yesterday rolled back an 80 percent increase in fees that members pay for access to the Multiple Listing Service.

The service is a database of homes for sale and is managed by the Board of Realtors.

At a special meeting at the Ala Wai Golf Course clubhouse, members objected to the increase for an hour and a half, after which the board of directors voted to decrease the annual subscriber fee to $550 per year from the $720 it had approved May 10 -- still a 38 percent increase over last year.

The previous fee structure had consisted of a $399 annual subscriber fee paid by individual Realtors plus a $685 annual fee paid by each Realty office. A further $30 fee was also charged for each house listed in the Multiple Listing Service.

The new fee structure eliminates the listing fee and the office fee.

In a May 14 letter sent to members after the board of directors initially hiked fees, board President John Connelley said the decision to raise the fees was due in part to the changing nature of the Honolulu Board of Realtors' business model.

"In years past it (HBR) was an association-driven model," he said. "But in 1996 we re-evaluated our position and decided we needed an association with a business side to provide programs, products and services for our members."

Yesterday's meeting was put together after members criticized the new fees.

The board's hope is to reduce membership fees if the association becomes profitable, Connelley said.

Last December, the board convened a task force to study Multiple Listing Service fees, Connelley said. The task force recommended several options for changing member fees. But at the May 10 meeting, the board of directors came up with its own proposal and voted 15-5 in favor of the $720 flat fee.

Rod Chai, principal broker with Century 21 Realty Specialists on Kapiolani Boulevard, said members are questioning why the board needed such a large increase, and wonder how the money is being spent.

"It's obvious that the vast majority were very unhappy about the board's decision," he said. "You can argue about a flat vs. graduated fee, but why have a task force if you are going to ignore what they say?"

Chai, who attended yesterday's meeting, said he and many members would like to see a more thorough financial accounting from the board.

In a May 31 letter sent to other members about the new fees, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties managing directors Scott Bradley and Herb Conley questioned why the board of directors ignored other fee proposals put forward by the task force.

They also said the new fees would be bad for the industry over the long term.

"The new fee structure generally favors companies at the expense of agents," they said.

Connelley said yesterday's meeting was held to provide a forum for the issue to be aired out, to allow members to have a say and to give the board a chance to re-evaluate its position.