Former Pennsylvania Realtors President Sues Par, Nar Over Membership Agreements

The lawsuits taking aim at the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) three-way membership agreement continue to pile up. W. Preston Moore, a former president of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR) and an agent with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, filed his antitrust suit in late November in U.S. district court in Pittsburgh and is representing himself.

Moore was named PAR’s president in January 2024, marking the first time the trade group had a Black president. But PAR suspended Moore in June, preventing him from accessing state-level association membership rights until late June 2025. Moore was not removed as association president, but his suspension prevented him from performing his presidential duties.

In addition to NAR and PAR, the suit also lists the New York Realtor Association, New Jersey Realtors, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission and the Black Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as defendants.

Several PAR officials are named as defendants. They include CEO Michael McGee, current president Bill Lublin, president-elect David Dean, chief legal officer Hank Lerner and chief growth officer Kevin Juliano. PAR members Albert Perry III and Chris Beadling, as well as Katheryn L. Simpson — an attorney at Mette, Evans & Woodside, which represents the state Realtor associations in New York and New Jersey — were also named.

According to the suit, Moore is suing the defendants over their alleged “discriminatory practices, antitrust violations, forced membership, and violations of civil rights, particularly regarding minority demographics and inequitable enforcement of rules.”

The suit takes aim at NAR’s three-way membership agreement, which requires agents and brokers to join a local, state and national Realtor association in order to qualify for membership in any level of Realtor association. It also targets a rule held by many Realtor-affiliated MLSs that licensees must join NAR in order to gain access to the MLS.

Moore claims that the membership rules “stifle competition and limit market access, forcing professionals to comply with NAR’s rules and dues without viable alternatives,” the complaint states. “Forced membership disproportionately affects minority and lower-income professionals who may lack the financial means to pay the imposed dues.”

This is the second suit filed in Pennsylvania that deals with NAR’s three-way agreement. Similar cases have also been filed in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana and California.

In addition to the claims Moore made about NAR’s three-way agreement, he also alleges discrimination against minorities, particularly involving the handling of ethics complaints. This is similar to arguments made by plaintiff Maurice Muhammad in the other suit recently filed in Pennsylvania.

“Minority members, including Plaintiff, have faced unequal enforcement of ethical standards, while white members engaging in similar conduct are not held accountable,” Moore wrote in his complaint. “Leadership structures within NAR and PAR favor non-minority individuals, leading to policies that fail to protect minority members.”

According to the complaint, Moore feels that NAR failed to “provide due process in the context of harassment allegations, particularly where high-level leaders within a Realtor association are implicated.” He also claimed that the unspecified allegations at the center of the complaint were not adequately investigated by NAR. 

“Plaintiff has been unlawfully suspended, indicative of a broader culture within the organizations that fosters retaliation and microaggressions against minority members,” he wrote.

The complaint accuses the defendants of violating the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act, as well as breaches of contract and a violation of due-process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Moore is demanding a jury trial and is seeking injunctions that would require the defendants “to reform their processes to ensure equitable treatment of all members” while prohibiting them from “engaging in forced membership practices.” He is also asking to be reinstated as PAR’s president for 2024, and for compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

The defendants did not return HousingWire’s request for comment.