|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
When Jon Waclawski was asked to take on SVP and general counsel responsibilities at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) in February 2025, it wasn’t entirely a surprise. The eight-and-a-half-year veteran of the organization had spent years in both the legal and political advocacy arms. When his predecessor, Katie Johnson, exited in late 2024, he temporarily took on legal oversight, guiding a comprehensive legal risk analysis with an outside law firm. He wasn’t sure but had a feeling it might be a litmus test.
Landing the GC role for the most powerful real estate association in the US should be a moment of unabashed celebration, but for Waclawski, he’s been tasked with a variety of challenges—an organization in transition, the settlement of a massive lawsuit, and, more existentially, ensuring the good name of NAR for years to come—that have allotted little time for festivities. But that’s the role the GC took, and it’s the role he was ready to accept.
“Buying a home is one of the most difficult and complicated transactions many of us ever go through, once or twice in our lives.”
Jon Waclawski
Few events have shaped Waclawski’s agenda so much as a much-publicized legal case and settlement. The lawsuit, which centered on broker commission practices, ended with NAR agreeing to pay $418 million to plaintiffs and adopt fundamental changes to real estate practices. Among the most significant reforms, agents who are REALTOR® members representing buyers are now required to enter explicit written agreements with their buyer clients before any home tours. These agreements mandate clear disclosures about agent compensation and reinforce that broker fees are fully negotiable, not fixed or open-ended.
“Part of making changes in the short time I’ve been in this role means constantly analyzing things we’re doing and decisions we’re making in real-time,” Waclawski says. “At the same time, we have to be looking back and retroactively assessing if decisions made five, ten, or twenty years ago continue to make sense or pose additional risk now in light of changes that are happening in the marketplace.”
For the MLS community, the GC says that the roughly five hundred multiple listing services across the country are battling competitive forces and dynamic pressures. NAR is working hard to strengthen its relationships with the MLS community and the GC has already collaborated with NAR’s MLS team to revise MLS rules, making them more relevant, timely and risk averse.
“We need to do a better job of being at the table with them, so that decisions we’re making are informed by legal risk,” Waclawski says. “That’s not just part of my job responsibility, but it’s prudent in terms of where the market is now and where it will be in the near future.”
Internally, the GC implemented structural changes in the legal department. The legal group was reestablished as a standalone division reporting directly to the CEO. The move, the GC says, ensures that legal risk is firmly at the table for all major business decisions, creating a model of direct engagement and heightened accountability.
Personnel changes followed. For the first time, NAR instituted an in-house litigation counsel role, an answer to the association’s expanding litigation docket. NAR also elevated trademark and brand protection by hiring a seasoned IP lawyer, ensuring protection of the REALTOR® brand that sets its members apart from non-member real estate licensees.
The GC says that he wants the centerpiece of his tenure to be perpetual legal risk assessment, a constantly ongoing process on his watch. The strategic, data-driven approach will continue to provide critical insight for navigating complex relationships with state and local REALTOR® associations, MLSs, brokerages, and the association’s vast membership.
There seems to be a significant effort to build back some trust that may have been lost over the years. Waclawski comes back to two words frequently: transparency and accountability. The attorney is known for being willing to “level-up” in tough times, and it’s likely why he was so well-suited for this moment.
Waclawski also says that it’s especially important in his role to get out and interface with REALTORS® and other industry stakeholders. The GC is frequently on the road, traveling to events to speak with REALTOR® members across the country. That part of the job is welcome, he says.
“Buying a home is one of the most difficult and complicated transactions many of us ever go through, once or twice in our lives,” the SVP says. “To be part of that and supporting the people that help others go through it, I find that incredibly rewarding. I get energy and fulfillment by being out there and meeting people. That may not be true for everyone in a role like this, but it certainly is for me.”
It’s going to take time, but Waclawski is poised to guide NAR through court-ordered change, stabilize its legal footing, and, most importantly, chart a new course. Sometimes the best change takes place during the darkest moments. Waclawski says he’s just starting to see the light of a new day.
“Congratulations to Jonathan Waclawski on his continued success. We applaud his insight, direction, and commitment to the National Association of REALTORS®, as well as his leadership during a transformational time for the company.”
–Anna Wermuth, Vice Chair, Labor & Employment and Steven Millman, Member
“Jon is thoughtful, strategic, and dedicated to NAR. He is also calm and a voice of reason regardless of the level of stress. We highly value our collaboration and partnership.”
–Christopher Curran, Partner
