The Membership Application is available inside the Member Portal for people who already have a record with your association but do not yet hold a primary or secondary association membership.
Because the applicant is already signed in, the form knows who they are. It pre-fills what the association already has on file, skips the steps that do not apply to them, and files the application against their existing person record instead of creating a duplicate.
The portal version of the Membership Application is available to:
Eligibility is checked against the person's active role before the form opens. If someone's role does not qualify, the Membership Application does not appear as an option in their portal. If they reach the form by direct link anyway, they see an explanatory message and cannot move past the first page.
The form offers the following actions, based on the applicant's current status:
| Action | Available to |
|---|---|
| Acquire secondary membership | MLS Only people with an active primary member record |
| Transfer membership | Secondary members and MLS Only people with an active primary member record |
| Reinstate membership | People with an inactive primary member record |
| Establish new membership | Licensee Only people and assistants with no primary member record |
MLS Only designated licensees can also use the form to transition from MLS licensee to REALTOR. See Transitioning from MLS to REALTOR.
The form loads the applicant's details from their existing record, including:
Applicants can review and correct this information as they go. Anything the association does not already have on file is collected during the workflow as usual.
Applicants move through the following pages. Pages that do not apply to a given applicant are skipped automatically.
MLS and lockbox pages do not appear in this form, and neither does MLS orientation. Applicants using this form already hold MLS access through their existing subscription, so there is nothing to set up. Their MLS subscription carries over.
Office selection works differently here than in the public membership application. Applicants choose one of three options:
Applicants do not choose a membership type. It is inferred from the record on file:
| Applicant's current status | Membership type applied |
|---|---|
| MLS Only licensee with a member NRDS ID on record | Reinstatement |
| MLS Only licensee with no member NRDS ID on record | New membership |
| Secondary REALTOR | Transfer |
MLS Only, excluding records carrying the NUA role code |
Applicant chooses between secondary membership and transfer |
Records carrying the NUA, NLU, or NLX role codes |
New membership |
Non-designated MLS Only licensees can use this form to join as REALTORS, either in their current office or in a different one:
When a broker completes a transition election through this form, the only available option is the MLS to REALTOR transition. Other transition types are not offered here.
A designated licensee of a branch office cannot initiate a transition. A branch cannot transition on its own, and only the designated licensee of the main office can start the process. Branch designated licensees are blocked at the transition step and should contact their main office or association staff.
If someone submits the public membership application and it matches an existing person record with an active relationship, the form stops and directs them to the Member Portal instead. This keeps existing records from being duplicated, and prevents problems that occurred when applicants could not find their own office in the public form and created a second copy of it.
Association staff previewing the Membership Application from the forms module see it without an applicant loaded and without a person search. To view the form as a specific person, open it from that person's portal.
Will this create a duplicate record?
No. The application is filed against the applicant's existing person record.
Does the applicant keep their MLS subscription?
Yes. MLS access continues; the form only adds or changes the association membership and the applicant's role.
Can staff complete the form on a member's behalf?
Staff can open the form from the member's portal. The forms module preview opens the form without a person attached and is intended for reviewing the form itself.
What happens if someone's role changes while an application is open?
Eligibility is evaluated when the form is opened. If a role change affects eligibility, the applicant should restart the application from the portal.