Op-ed: CAR governance review sparks debate over member access and control

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) Fall Business Meetings, held October 6–9, 2026, in Long Beach, served as a national bellwether. As organized real estate navigates sweeping structural, technological and legal transformations, CAR’s Governance Review offers a critical test case for trade associations nationwide. CAR’s posture reveals a fundamental conflict. Externally, the association champions public accountability and sponsors open governance for HOAs via SB 1238. Internally, however, its proposed restructuring centralizes power at the expense of frontline practitioners—a pattern consistent with the earlier analysis on “Leadership Culture” regarding how trade organizations prioritize insider interests over member representation. CAR initiated its first comprehensive Governance Review in three decades, producing a proposal to shrink its 800+ member Board of Directors to a 511-member body. Complete reports, proposals and FAQs from the Governance Review Task Force are available on the CAR Governance Resource Hub. In my opinion, they’ve done this under the guise of becoming “nimble and adaptable,” this restructuring threatens to consolidate institutional authority within a...