NAR's Board of Directors, at its November 13th meeting, voted to strengthen REALTORS®' commitment to upholding fair housing ideals, approving recommendations from NAR's Professional Standards Committee that extend the application of April 10 of the Code of Ethics to discriminatory speech and conduct outside of members' real estate practice.

The Board approved a new Standard of Practice 10-5: "REALTORS® must not use harassing speech, hate speech, epithets or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity."

The Board also approved a change to professional standards policy, expanding the Code of Ethics' applicability to all of a REALTOR®'s activities. The Board made these changes effective as of November 13th, though the changes cannot be applied to speech or conduct that occured before the effective date.