Two of housing's big three associations have made the latest list of the most powerful lobbying organizations in Washington as compiled by Fortune Magazine.

The National Association of Realtors is rated the ninth strongest special interest group and the National Association of Home Builders is ranked 11th. Conspicuously absent from Fortune's Washington Power 25 list is the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Though it doesn't mention them directly, the magazine implies that both the NAR and NAHB have grown in stature along with other Republican-leaning organizations because the GOP "controls every lever of power in town."

At the top of the Power 25 list, for example, is the heavily Republican National Rifle Association. The 4.3 million member NRA supplanted AARP, which slipped to second place, in part, writes Jeffrey Birnbaum, Fortune's Washington Bureau Chief, because it's politically neutral. Labor unions also have fallen out of favor as "pro-business" groups like NAR and NAHB gained favor.

Both housing organizations like to portray themselves as consumer groups. And they are, as long as the interests of their members and home buyers, sellers and owners coincide, as they often do. But when it is necessary, neither is shy about representing their members, whether consumers benefit or not.

Fortune's list is based on a survey that was mailed to 2,900 Members of Congress, senior Capital Hill staffers, senior White House aides and lobbyists, who were asked to rate the political clout of 87 trade associations, labor unions and interest groups.

NAR, which was 15th on the Power list in 1999 (the list was not published last year), said it was proud of its latest ranking. Calling it "a real tribute," President Richard Mendenhall pointed out that the entrepreneurship and salesmanship of real estate agents and brokers are two "traits that transfer easily into the political arena."

The magazine's May 28 edition reached newsstands last week, coinciding with NAR's annual mid-year meeting. Nearly 7,500 members attended, and many swarmed Capital Hill to protest an attempt by banking institutions to obtain approval from federal lawmakers to sell houses.

That fight is the focus of a sidebar accompanying the main Power 25 article in which Birnbaum suggests that NAR has an edge over the American Bankers Association and similar groups, because bankers, having just won the right to sell stocks and insurance, appear greedy. The conflict, says the author, will be "the loudest lobbying battle" of 2001.

NAR already has generated more than 100,000 letters, faxes and e-mails to regulators and lawmakers, arguing that if banks are allowed into the real estate business, consumers will pay the price in the form higher fees for services.

For more articles by Lew Sichelman, please press here.

Published: May 23, 2001

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.