Real estate

Daryl James and Michael Soyfer | 4.8.2024 12:35 PM

People took sides over the COVID-19 lockdowns, but the pandemic proved one thing for certain: Workers can thrive without regular, in-person supervision. Yet, the Mississippi Real Estate Commission has failed to keep up.

Despite overwhelming evidence from nearly every industry, the government commission clings to an old, unwritten policy that requires real estate agents to live within roughly a one-hour drive—about 50 miles—of their supervising broker. The goal is to promote face-to-face interaction, a holdover from a bygone era of cubicles and desks for every employee.

The requirement is not a formal rule, and its legal basis is murky. Mississippi law requires real estate agents to work under the supervision of a broker, but the statutes say nothing about working within a certain distance.

The restriction was invented by unelected bureaucrats based on a published rule that only requires brokers to supervise their licensees. Tellingly, the commission refers........

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