What Every Realtor Needs to Know About RPAC (And Why It Matters)

Steven L Burch (00:00)
right, welcome to the Leading Lane podcast. We're gonna talk about RPAC. And I know when I first got into real estate, I just heard RPAC and I didn't really understand what it.

really means, and there's so many different multiple levels to this, but the Realtor Political Action Committee, the simplest way for me to put it in real terms, and I don't remember what year it was, but I remember that there was a bill that was proposed for taxes to be taken out of our commission check as realtors.

from our commission and paying directly over. And I can't remember the percentage. It was freaking high right up front. And what they, what it's for is these funds are for people to lobby on behalf of the entire association, Realtor Association. And it's the largest trade group that for lobbyists, right? We have 1.2, 1.5 million.

realtors that pay into the association. So what they do is they lobby for us on our behalf and things that work for us and our industry as a whole. So in this situation, that bill was stopped, right? Because obviously that would change the whole trajectory of what this industry would be and how the real estate world would really work. There's so many other different things that they do other than just protecting our money, right?

There's also, I remember the flood insurance. There's a big push on that side of things, making sure that we're insurance affordable for different individuals. It goes on and on and on and on. I honestly never really realized everything that they do on the back end because you don't see what is actually done. And one event that we went to, and it might've been in the Kansas City broker event that we went to, somebody says,

that means we're actually doing our job with R-Pack then. If you don't really know what's going on or you're not seeing these huge disruptions, that means that we're stopping things and you're not having to pay attention to it. That's why you contribute into the R-Pack world so that we take care of that for you. And ever since then, every year, Mike Flockworth, we make sure that we contribute to that because those are things that I honestly don't pay attention to. I, as an independent individual,

don't have the time to sit there and go lobby and go to the different sessions to make sure that my voice is heard. I'm able to put it and route it directly where I want it to be able to go for those common goods. So those are just a few examples that I have, Ashley. I know that you contribute a lot. Obviously, both you and I love to be going to auctions and any time that we get competitive with those types of things, we get to spend a lot of money for a great cause.

But what is your rundown and understanding of RPAC? What are the places that I missed to fill in here?

Ashley Fredrick (03:08)
I mean, I think it's both at a like, quote unquote, national level and at a state level, right? So there are very specific things to whatever state that you might be in that has, you know, outlooks or things that they're looking to do. can't remember exactly what it was, but I think it was maybe two or three years ago, there was a specific dispute over like waterway rights and

who those belonged to or whatnot. And so I know that our PAC was very influential in making sure that it stayed with the homeowners, but I was just looking at like some of the things that they've been kind of working on. it's such things as like ⁓ loan modification programs, accessory dwelling units, ⁓ condo conversions. Like there's just things that people don't know that they're working on and it's supposed to help with, know, shortage of inventory.

quote unquote, affordable housing and really what helps a homeowner better in the long run, whether it's tax purposes, ⁓ profit when you're reselling those types of things, even things like plat reviews or easements, all those things have changed dramatically over the last 40 years. So it's really what can be done to save those types of things so that the consumer is still protected.

Steven L Burch (04:30)
Now the whole thing too, when I first got in there's this wonderful

divide we have in our country. Republican, Democrat, right? The whole political divide and sliced up however you want to be able to look at it. And I think where the misnomer comes into play is that thinking that when you are contributing, you're contributing to a single party and it is only going to one side or the other. And that is furthest from the truth.

what reality it is doing is it's contributing to those who have the aligned ⁓ vision of the real estate world industry as a whole and moves those bills or protects the bills however way you want to be able to look at it. So it does not have a political party affiliation by any means. So it's not like you're crossing the aisle or

You know, your funds are going to the other party. That's not how that looks like. You have to look at it for the betterment of the industry and remove your own political views out of it and look at it from the hat of a realtor as the entire association. What is benefiting for it? So having the advocacy is absolutely huge. Making sure that we have that presence and have a huge push again. Like that's a lot of arm power.

when you get that many people, that large of a trade behind people. Listen, money talks, the numbers talk. And I think that even more now in this world, that is super important to making sure that you are contributing to those types of funds.

Ashley Fredrick (06:16)
Well, you know, you can choose where the funds go to. like when you donate money, a lot of times, like towards the end of the year, they'll tell you that you have X amount in your, you know, ⁓ hot, so you can tell them where you want them to spend it. But just looked up like two other ones that I think, again, people just don't think about. So this was for Wisconsin specifically, but it had helping Wisconsin's affordability challenges by cutting the state's real estate transfer tax credit by one third, reducing the cost that sellers face at closing.

And the other one, I appreciate is preventing landlord bankruptcy. there's one ⁓ president that had been set and that would literally financially devastate landlords. And so this bill instead strengthens the tenant protection, clarifies landlord obligations and helps prevent legal disputes. So there's just such a wide variety of things that come up in real estate from buyers to sellers, to landlords, to tenants. And a lot of times we don't know

Steven L Burch (06:46)
Okay.

Ashley Fredrick (07:14)
until something

bad happens that you weren't protected, that there wasn't something in place. And so these kind of help to buffer when things change.

Steven L Burch (07:23)
I just pulled stats for 2025. It shows that there's $42.3 million raised for RPAC in 2025. And then there was over 5,000 congressional meetings that were held in 2025. So they go to things and these aren't just more examples. ⁓ This is support the VA Home Loan Reform Act, the Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act.

There's so many different things and so many moving parts, different bills in all aspects, again, on the national level, local level, state level, making sure that those aren't just getting slid underneath the table and getting passed for whatever reason and making sure that, again, the realtor voice as a whole is heard and making sure that we are putting our consumers first and...

Protecting them because that's our mission as realtors is protecting the public So super important. I I just remember the and for lack of better terms just these old people But I've always been talking about it. I don't have any other better buddy to say it But that's all that were there those were the only people that were contributing those were the only Realtors, you know the older ones that have been in it forever and ever

And I just don't think that when we first get into the industry and truly knowing what all does it go towards other than just a fun event, fundraising event on a local level, there's so much more that happens behind it. So I think the education is super important. A few years ago, Ryan and I went to the president's circle and that was extremely eye opening. So once you hit a certain threshold of your contributions,

then you are invited into a, I don't wanna call it workshop, a seminar, a conference specific to RPAC. And so everybody that is there have all contributed at that level or higher. And it is extremely eye-opening when you get that many people together that all believe in the same mission, all are contributing, they're walking the walk, they're talking the talk. They're just not here, know, lollygagging around. And that's really where the...

real noise happens and the muscle happens. So I really enjoyed going to that event and I think that it's super important to know that there are other avenues and other ways to get educated. And I honestly didn't know a lot of this stuff until I actually started contributing and seeing and going to these events and asking questions. So I know that it is a huge return of investment, not only just for me as a.

professional but mute personally growth as well.

Ashley Fredrick (10:12)
I think

of a brand new agent, can be overwhelming or, you know, you, go into these rooms where these auctions are and people are just like throwing stupid money at, you know, this event or whatnot. And again, like when I first started in real estate, all I knew is it was a auction where people bought stuff and I had no idea what that actually meant afterwards. So, you my suggestion is to attend some meetings that explain it. I mean, there's a lot of information online that's state specific that you can figure out what it's going for.

Steven L Burch (10:16)
Okay.

Ashley Fredrick (10:42)
But even like we have a monthly legislative update type of thing and just making sure that you're on track with those. And really if there are things that are on the docket that you can talk to your clients about too, like it just makes them realize that you're in the know with the industry and that you're looking out for their rights as well.

Steven L Burch (11:00)
They're legit advocating for them, right? That's what they're paying you for. So, ⁓ yeah, I think it's of course a great thing to be involved, making sure that you know all the parameters, because also it's expensive, right? You already pay dues, you already pay these money, like this money, and not understanding what those money.

what the money actually is going towards. Like this is above and beyond. This is above the line of what you pay for and contribute to. So super important. ⁓ good topic. Always love our pack. And of course there's way more to dive into it. We didn't want to get into it too crazy of it and bore, but I really enjoyed our patch. So thanks for tuning in. I'm sorry.

Ashley Fredrick (11:45)
Yeah, you haven't, I'm just going

to say if you hadn't have a chance and you're at your local level, just, I would reach out to whoever's in charge and ask them if you can get more information. If there's anything you can do to help, there's just little things that I think will make everyone understand that advocacy matters.

Steven L Burch (12:03)
Advocacy matters. That's a good tagline. I should take that from you. All right. Thank you for tuning in and make sure you tune into the next leading lane podcast.