Nonresident licensed Florida agent required to join NAR?

[Doug Johnson]

Recently obtained a nonresident Florida license as I reside in Georgia. Newly contracted broker suggest I join the Greater Tampa Association (GTA). I'm not fond of all the junk fees associations charge members. I was a member of the NAR 20 years ago and would rather not join. Secondly, I would be paying for access to their Stellar MLS which I already have access to through Georgia. Is it mandatory for me to join the GTA?

[Doug Johnson]

Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

If you want to sell real estate in the state of FL you HAVE to work for a Broker. If that Broker is part of the association (99.9% chance that they are) than the association will force any and all agents to join and pay for all of the services.

Thanks for your response. I have been licensed for just over 20 yrs in 3 states and Florida is my fourth. I just signed a contract with a broker to hang my license last week. He suggested I become a member of the Greater Tampa Assoc. My issue is after looking at all their worthless fees and specifically Stellar MLS, it turned me off. Georgia and Florida share MLS data and I already have access to the Stellar database. It's overkill for me to pay the association fee for their MLS which I already have available. I will be in Tampa next week to discuss it my with broker.