a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/business/12realtors.html?ex=1294722000&en=0d8307751a2522d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">Glen Justice:
When the nation's largest banks decided at the start of the decade that they wanted to get into the real estate brokerage business, one major obstacle stood in their way: the National Association of Realtors.
Lobbyists for the huge trade group stonewalled the banks by tying up new rules at the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Then the big score came in 2002 when the Realtors persuaded Congress to adopt a one-year moratorium to stop the banks altogether. It was a card the Realtors would play again and again. Four years later, bankers still have not cracked the real estate market.
"They are known as very aggressive," said Edward L. Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association. "Not many trade associations are willing to be that tough on an issue."