The American Real Estate Association has its first global franchise giant.
The agent-focused trade organization announced Thursday that Chris Lim, president and chief growth officer of REMAX, has joined its board of directors, along with Andrew Dodge, a businessman and investor.
As part of the deal, every REMAX agent in the United States will receive a complimentary first-year ARA membership, potentially boosting the association’s agent headcount from one of the industry’s most recognized franchise brands.
“The stakes right now for the American public and the real estate industry are enormous,” Jason Haber and Mauricio Umansky, co-founders of the ARA, said in a joint statement. “We launched the ARA to provide a unified voice of reason at a time of immense transition. The backbone of the American path to homeownership is the full-time real estate professional.”
Haber and Umansky added that by bringing Lim’s deep industry acumen and Dodge’s outside business perspective to the table, they are “building a diversified board that can strategically guide our industry forward and fiercely supports the nearly two million full-time agents working hard every single day.”
Building the roster
The ARA launched in January 2024 at Inman Connect New York as an alternative to the National Association of Realtors, co-founded by Umansky, CEO of The Agency and star of Buying Beverly Hills, and Haber, a Compass agent who first made waves with the NAR Accountability Project.
Its pitch: an agent-first organization built by practitioners, not lobbyists, with a sharper focus on professional education and housing literacy than on dues collection and political spending.
The association has built its membership primarily through elite luxury networks and independent brokerages. Douglas Elliman aligned last fall, folding its roughly 6,600 agents into ARA’s ranks and adding two board members: CEO Michael Liebowitz and General Counsel Deva Roberts.
RLTYco co-founder Briggs Elwell also sits on the board. The REMAX partnership is the association’s first formal tie to a major franchised brand.
“The rapid convergence of luxury networks and global giants under the ARA umbrella proves the industry was starving for modern, agent-first leadership,” Elwell said in a statement. “By giving professionals the tools and advocacy they actually need, we are fundamentally changing the trajectory of American real estate.”
The Dodge appointment is a deliberate diversification move. Unlike the other board members — all real estate operators or executives — Dodge is described by the ARA as bringing a cross-industry business perspective to the board.
“When the founding partners invited me to join, I saw an opportunity to bring a true outsider’s perspective to a passion I’ve held my entire life,” Dodge said in a statement. “Right now, there is so much negative rhetoric around housing that has been weaponized politically. The ARA can be that trusted, apolitical voice — like a wise family member or friend — reminding people of the enduring value of ownership.”
Momentum meets litigation
REMAX’s participation may be the clearest signal yet that the ARA is pulling institutional weight.
The ARA has been pitching itself as a complement to NAR membership at a moment when the NAR is still absorbing reputational damage from its $418 million antitrust settlement over agent commissions and the fallout surrounding its leadership.
As Inman recently reported, the rift between NAR and Umansky’s thePLS.com has taken a new turn. NAR has issued a subpoena to the ARA and its co-founder, Haber.
The subpoena demands that ARA and Haber hand over documents, contracts, invoices and all communications between ARA, thePLS.com and theNLS.com, its Spanish counterpart.
NAR also wants communications about its Clear Cooperation Policy and the NAR Accountability Project, which Haber launched in 2023 following sexual misconduct allegations against former NAR President Kenny Parcell.
‘An ambitious group’
For REMAX, the alignment is a brand play as much as anything else. Complimentary first-year memberships cost the franchise nothing directly but put REMAX’s name on the ARA’s growth story.
“This is an ambitious group with a lot of ideas and goals,” Lim told Inman. “For me, success comes down to one thing: build something that truly advocates for agents with their support. I would be proud if ARA can build momentum, grow its network, and impact meaningful change for agents. Because at the end of the day, agents are the driving force in this industry and always will be.”
When asked what real estate agents most need from a trade association right now, Lim said, “Agents need to be heard.”
“The housing market is constantly evolving,” Lim said. “Agents need a strong voice that understands the industry’s pressures and helps them navigate change, not just react to it.”
The ARA also recently absorbed the New York Residential Agent Continuum, a New York City-focused organization of top residential producers, as its foundational local chapter.
The association says it’s now active nationally and claims alignment across major independent luxury networks, regional powerhouses, and, now, one of the world’s largest real estate franchise systems.
