A new report from “The New York Times” examines the NAR-created American Property Owners Alliance, a nonprofit organization ostensibly dedicated to property rights, which has given heavily to Republican causes.
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The National Association of Realtors has a nonprofit advocacy organization whose spending appears to be partisan, putting it into questionable territory with the Internal Revenue Service, according to a new report by The New York Times.
The Times report looks briefly at spending by the Realtors Political Action Committee (RPAC), one of the largest political action committees in the country, as well as in-depth at a lesser-known NAR nonprofit called the American Property Owners Alliance (APOA).
RPAC spending is neutral, with half going to Democrats and half to Republicans, The Times reported. The American Property Owners Alliance, meanwhile, tends to lean heavily toward Republican causes, most of which have no stated interest in housing or real estate, according to the report and an Inman review of publicly available tax forms.
This was the second report in less than a month in which attorneys suggested that spending by NAR or an affiliate of the organization could become scrutinized by the IRS for noncompliance with requirements for nonprofit entities. NAR disputed several points made in the report in a lengthy response.
Last month, The New York Times also reported that NAR’s lavish spending on perks and stipends for members of leadership could put NAR’s tax-exempt status at risk.
The American Property Owners Alliance is solely funded by NAR. Since it was created in 2020, it has spent $12.8 million in grants. Around 78 percent of those grants went to Republican-aligned PACs “and groups with conservative agendas,” the report said.
The report comes at a time when NAR is analyzing its spending and revenue — which comes predominantly from member dues — as it seeks to pay for its $418 million agreement to settle lawsuits filed by homesellers.
The Times wrote that it had obtained a recording of an October call in which NAR Chief Financial Officer John Pierpoint told attendees that the organization expected $15.9 million in net revenue next year and that it expected to send 40 percent of that to APOA.
The APOA said in a statement to The Times that it “has acted in a manner consistent with that of a section 501(c) (4) advocacy organization,” the report noted. The group added that the grants analyzed by The Times “advance APOA’s own agenda and, while not direct program activity, advance the interest of property owners and their rights.”
501c4 nonprofits are advocacy organizations that have more capability to get involved politically than 501c3 nonprofits. But they still must participate in political activity that lines up with their stated mission.
Only one group that received money from APOA, Americans for Tax Reform, expressly focuses on property rights. APOA gave that group $25,000.
In a lengthy response, NAR disputed several points in the report.
It denied the suggestion that APOA was a secretive organization, highlighted its grants made to left-leaning organizations, and said that its grants were publicly available.
“NAR and APOA disclose all required advocacy related expenditures in full compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements—which is how the NYT has access to this data in the first place,” an NAR spokesperson said in the statement, which the group it created to dispel what it called “NYT Myths.”
“APOA does not engage in political activity as defined by the IRS,” the NAR spokesperson said in the statement.
The largest single recipient of grants from the APOA was a group called One Nation, which is aligned with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. That group contributes to the Senate Leadership Fund, which is dedicated to getting Republicans elected to the Senate.
The McConnell overlap doesn’t end there. APOA reported hiring a lobbying firm known as PhronesisDC. That firm’s president is the former counsel on tax and financial services to McConnell, according to his bio.
The documents show that APOA has given $3 million to House Majority Forward, a super PAC focused on electing Democrats to the House.
The Times report suggested that NAR was aware of its impending report on the APOA and that Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Suzanne Bouhia sent a message to NAR leadership alerting them to the forthcoming report.
Bouhia’s email said the report would make “the false claim that NAR is a partisan organization with a right-leaning agenda,” according to the report. “We will continue to fight back.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated with a response from NAR that came after the article was originally published.
