A Virginia realtor faces the loss of his license after his state association ruled that a nine-year-old posting of a Biblical verse on his personal social media account was an act of hate speech.
According to combined media reports, the Hearing Committee of the Virginia Association of Realtors (VAR) decided last week that Wilson Fauber, the owner and managing Broker at Regal Real Estate of Virginia LLC, violated its Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual when he shared the passage from Leviticus 18:22 regarding the Old Testament view of homosexuality on his personal Facebook page. Fauber, who is also a pastor and runs Arise International Ministries, published the post was made on Feb. 13, 2015, and the complaint was initially filed by two realtors last year after Fauber unsuccessfully ran for the city council in Staunton, Virginia.
VAR determined the Biblical quote shred by Fauber violated its Standard of Practice 10-5 rule regarding “very particular types of speech that are directly connected to the protected classes of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity under Article 10.” VAR has another policy that states its members “are subject to disciplinary action with respect to all of their activities, except in those circumstances in which the Code of Ethics only applies to real estate-related activities by virtue of its Articles or Standards of Practice.”
Fauber, who has been a realtor for 44 years, has never been accused of discrimination or hate speech harassment against prospective homebuyers, nor has he used his realtor-related social media pages to promote his ministry. He criticized VAR’s attempt to label him as a hate speech advocate.
“They didn’t find any dirt, but they found a scripture from Feb. 13, 2015, and they decided they were going to use that and label me as the hater,” Fauber said.
Fauber’s attorney, Michael Sylvester, questioned why VAR was penalizing Fauber for echoing a Biblical scripture.
“He’s a minister, he runs a nonprofit Christian ministry,” Sylvester said. “It’s normal for him to express his views on these topics on his personal social media page.”
Sylvester added Fauber would appeal the ruling, arguing his First Amendment rights were being violated.
“Did any of his speech constitute hate speech or harassment speech against a protected category? Our position has been decidedly that it did not,” Sylvester said.
Photo courtesy of Wilson Fauber’s Facebook page
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Christian people need to be a protected class. And if ever a conflict, their rights should be overwhelmingly upheld. America was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Wrong, our country was founded on freedom. Including religious freedom.
Prayers for this persecuted Christian minister 🙏🏼, never thought we would see this in the USA but the time has come.
Amen to that Bill, America was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs, we are the protected class! Christians demand their rights to be upheld and respected!
The devil is always a$$ backwards.
This man needs to choose – is he a pastor or is he a Realtor? If he won’t choose, the state will have to choose for him.
Why should he have to chose between Pastor and Realtor? Many Realtors have other positions and/or professions. What would give the state the power to make that choice for him?
He used a quote, not his own words.
You must be a communist.
All religious are protected except Christianity. This is more law-fare by the opposing candidate and needs to be struck down. As a Christian, I can promise you, we did not write the Bible. But we believe in Gods word and we are committed to following and spreading it. We don’t do it with hate and no one is required to follow or believe but we must have our religious freedoms and first amendment rights protected. This is insanity.
I 1000% disagree with what he believes, but I support his right to believe it and to voice his beliefs in personal environments. Furthermore, even if the Association’s rules extend to personal actions outside of a member’s real estate practice, IMO the penalty for a 1st offense should be just a warning, or at most a small fine, but not loss of license.
It is hating speech to censor his religious beliefs and rights!
This is ridiculous! One scripture from 9 years ago? 2 realtors decided to complain about a fellow realtor and his quote? Could their complaint be a violation of the Code of Ethics? What was their motivation ?? Hate? Hate of Christians?
So based on this Logic then the VAR wants to ban the Bible then.
While I agree that the hearing should have never taken place and believe this is one area NAR needs to change. I am a little confused, does the Virginia Association of REALTORS®️ have the power to revoke a real estate license? In most states this authority rests with the state real estate commission.
There should have been a warning if anything… ridiculous…smh!
So are you saying if he was not a Pastor that it would have been ok to post a bible verse on his personal page?
It’s amazing what realtors can’t get away with but elected officials can.
A Realtor is a member of a trade organization. It/Realtor is not a license to practice real estate. Licensing in that regard is done by the “state“….or ‘Commonwealth’ in this instance.
I cannot see how this man can be harassed by his trade/business organization for something he does in his private life….outside of his business practice and not using his business practice as a vehicle for disseminating such information. I’m not expressing any opinion of agreement or disagreement with him, but I do think those who brought the charge are harassing him which may of itself be evidence that his Posting of biblical excerpts are necessary reading at least for the plaintiff here.
As a Realtor I see no place where that membership conveys any right to intrude in matters of my personal faith practice.
This is the kind of nonsense that is creating division and confusion in our country….incidentally, Realtor IS….properly spelled with a capital ‘R’ …..I guess someone has dumbed that down too.
In addition the VAR ought to have better topics to ‘fress’ over related to housing, than badger this man.
Hope he fights it. Speech is defended or clapped back at, by more speech, not less. In 2015 that verse may have made sense. Today it’s hate speech? Tomorrow, it may be different or more moderate.
How does VAR have to power to revoke licensure? VAR is tied to NAR, which is a trade organization. At most, they could suspend or remove his membership privileges. But his license to practice and to be a real estate broker is granted by a state regulatory authority, which VAR is not.
As an attorney and former pro standards administrator for a local Realtor Association, I think VAR has misinterpreted the COE and their role as a tribunal for alleged violations of the Code of Ethics. In addition to the question of the constitutionality of VAR’s ruling based on 1st Amendment grounds, VAR may have exposed itself to a civil or criminal complaint if its acts or the acts of its members, officers or association staff were malicious and aimed to defame, by libel or slander, or through an invasion of the broker’s privacy by portraying him in a false light. While it may be something for the courts to decide whether a clergyman is a “public figure” (which has legal significance) and and even if this whole thing started because of two people who had an axe to grind when he ran for a public office – – if the original complaint about an alleged Facebook post from many years ago was not “newsworthy”, but rather was malicious and defamatory in nature, it could be plausible to
find grounds for the filing of a complaint for damages against the originators and everyone else who repeated the defamatory remark(s) against the broker, whether they be per se or per quod.
I’m sure hateful libs filed a complaint against him. What a shame! I’m not Christian and I think he has every right to post his own religious views on his personal social media account. That’s his First Amendment right. If it’s a Bible verse, are you going to prosecute Bible, too? I have many good gay friends but if anyone speaks his/her own view and thinks that it is a sin, I have respect for those people as well. Religion is personal. Nobody can force anyone to hide or change his/her religious beliefs. It’s same as a meat eater forcing a Buddhist to eat meat and kill animals. You can’t force people to think and feel in a way that you think it’s the right way. It may be right for you, but it may be wrong for them.
Wow, just wow….where do all of you people live??? Wherever it is, I want to move there. I live in CA and I can just about guarantee none of you people do. Too many common sense comments, I am humbled.
Much love to you all and here’s to a great New Year.
Licensed since 1986.