Share
Martin Edwards Jr. was a volunteer leader whose service to the National Association of REALTORS® spanned 40 years. Perhaps his crowning achievement was his role in stopping an action in its tracks: a regulatory move that would have allowed big banks to encroach on NAR members’ businesses.
Edwards, the 2002 president of the National Association of REALTORS®, passed away in January at age 84. He was a commercial practitioner, a CCIM designee and a former partner with Collier Wilkinson & Snowden in Memphis, Tenn.
He’s remembered by many as a champion of the REALTORS® Relief Foundation and NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards. But beginning in 2001, Edwards was a key leader in the multiyear fight to block a Federal Reserve proposal that would have allowed large banks to engage in real estate sales and management. The proposal followed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, the largest banking reform legislation in over 60 years. GLBA repealed provisions of a Depression-era law that had prohibited large, national banks from expanding into other financial services.
Beginning in December 2000, the Fed sought public comment on the proposed rule. NAR leaders were quick to respond, saying the Fed’s proposal would have negative consequences, not just for the brokerage industry but for consumers. “Real estate brokers’ loyalty is to buyers and sellers,” NAR 2001 President Richard Mendenhall said in a Washington, D.C., press conference in early 2001. “Banks’ expertise and vested interest lies in making loans. If the Fed grants by regulation what Congress in its wisdom has banned since 1933, federal banks could quickly assume a monopolistic hold on virtually all aspects of the real estate transaction.”
It was a face-off between two of Washington’s most powerful lobbying groups, and there was no one better to represent the real estate industry than Martin Edwards. “If you had a problem, you sent in Martin,” says Mendenhall. “He traveled to Washington, D.C., multiple, multiple times. It didn’t have great glamour to it, but he worked his tail off for almost seven years.”
Year after year NAR fought to prevent implementation of the proposal, and in 2009 with the country in financial crisis the Obama administration took the proposal off the table, enabling REALTORS® to close the book on the hard-fought campaign.
Focus on Action and Outcome
As president, Edwards championed NAR’s commitment to equal housing opportunity with a focus on not just homeownership but also affordable rental housing.
His presidential slogan, “The Power of One,” was a rallying cry for individual members to get involved and make a difference.
“Martin believed that talking was important, but that actions and outcome are the real test of commitment,” says Ron Phipps, 2011 NAR president. “Whether it was his work as a real estate professional, a community leader, an NAR leader, or leading the REALTOR® Relief Foundation, Martin always made it about the work and the impact of the work. It was never about him.”
Becoming NAR president two months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Edwards helped to establish a fund for surviving family members. That fund would go on to become the REALTORS® Relief Foundation, and he served in RRF leadership roles, including as foundation president, for 20 years. Mendenhall, who was NAR president in 2001, says Edwards saw the potential for the fund to continue its good work.
“Martin had no fear of going out and asking people for money to make that fund very substantial,” says Mendenhall. “[The fund] could have been just for 9/11 and been over, but Martin took it to the next step.” Over 20-plus years, the foundation has responded to more than 160 disasters, donating $42 million to help people with housing expenses.
Community service was so essential in Edwards eyes that he wanted to shine a light on REALTORS® who give back to their communities as volunteers. For almost 20 years, he served as a champion of NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards, judging applicants and serving as master of ceremonies at the annual recognition event.
A Leader in Many Realms
Edwards was the rare NAR leader to serve as both president and treasurer of the association.
His term as treasurer and chairman of the association's Finance Committee was 1996–97. In 1994, he served as regional vice president for the states of Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Kentucky. His involvement at the national level started in 1985 and included serving on the Executive Committee and the Building Advisory Committee. He was also an instructor who was named NAR's 1986 Outstanding Educator of the Year. In 1989, he served as president of the CCIM Institute, an NAR affiliate.
During his term as first vice president of NAR, in 2000, Edwards served on the transition team of newly elected U.S. President George W. Bush, recommending housing policy positions to the new administration.
Edwards was also active at the state and local levels. He served on numerous state association committees, including the Commercial and Investment Committee, REALTOR® of the Year Committee and Convention Committee for the Tennessee Association of REALTORS®. He was named 1989 REALTOR® of the Year by the Tennessee association and was a regional vice president for the state in 1986. At the local level, Edwards served as chairman of the Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® Commercial Multiple Listing Service Committee and was the founder of the Education Foundation. He served as president of the Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® in 1985 and was named Memphis REALTOR® of the Year in 1988.
Active in the community as well, Edwards chaired the Memphis Health, Education and Housing Facility Board. He served as a trustee for the University of Memphis Foundation and was an approved instructor for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers. He also served as a senior instructor for the CCIM Institute and other NAR affiliates.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, son Martin and daughter Michelle.
“There are few people who are willing to commit themselves and the people they lead to reach beyond expectation,” says Phipps. “That was Martin's credo: It was never whether we could achieve a goal—that was never an appropriate question. The real question was always: How?”