NAR has faced months of turmoil following allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct by leadership that came to light earlier this year. The pair of settlement agreements released Friday show that the commission lawsuits, known as Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl, could also pose yet another threat to what is currently the nation’s largest professional organization, boasting approximately 1.58 million members.

The franchisor said it would encourage its brokerages to be transparent when working with buyers and sellers, particularly around cooperation and compensation.

“RE/MAX won’t require to you make offers of compensation or accept offers of compensation from cooperating brokers,” Bailey said in his Friday statement. “We’ll also continue to encourage you to be very clear that commissions are negotiable and not set by law or RE/MAX, LLC corporate policy.”

What remains unclear is whether agents could bypass a membership to NAR and still gain access to local multiple listings services.