A dispute brewing over a realty firm’s organizational structure kicked up a notch Wednesday when the company filed an injunction against the Memphis Area Association of Realtors.

First National Realty Inc. principal Larry Mayall is trying to prevent his 225 agents from being suspended on Friday from having access to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a multifaceted system through which real estate professionals gather information and broker deals.

First National Realty’s injunction seeks temporary and permanent relief “for actions taken against” the firm, said Alan Guinn, CEO and managing director of The Guinn Consultancy Group Inc., the Bristol, Tenn.-based company Mayall has retained as business consultant.

At the heart of the debate is Mayall himself. The principal broker of First National Realty, Mayall is a member Realtor of MAAR and therefore pays membership dues on behalf of himself and his agents.

In 2009 Mayall organized another entity called 9to5 Realty LLC. He said he is not a broker for the firm and that he transferred ownership of it to his son, Mark, who does not pay membership dues to MAAR on behalf of himself and his agents.

Like First National, 9to5 is what Larry Mayall calls a “virtual” realty firm – a flat-fee, 100 percent commission office where the agents pay a monthly fee to work under the broker.

MAAR contends that Larry Mayall also is involved as a principal – not necessarily a principal broker – at 9to5. And because fellow 9to5 principal Mark Mayall is not a MAAR member, both of Larry

Mayall’s companies are in violation of the national association’s constitution and will have their access to MLS suspended Friday.

Larry Mayall, who launched First National Realty in 2005, insisted he is not the broker at 9to5, and that this is a plot by MAAR to either accumulate more membership dues or to cripple both firms.

“I can’t help but think it was an effort to disrupt the business,” he said. “There are people who don’t like what I do in this business.”

Jules Wade, MAAR’s executive director, said the association’s board believes Larry Mayall “is also acting in a principal capacity with 9to5” and that asking for membership dues for those agents is simply getting the principals to comply with the National Association of Realtors constitution.

Wade said that doesn’t necessarily mean Larry Mayall is the “principal broker” for the firm. Instead, it could mean he works as an officer, manager or in some other capacity with “significant responsibility.”

“If one of the principals of a real estate company is a Realtor member of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, then all the principals of that real estate company must be Realtor members,” Wade said. “In this case, Mark Mayall, who is a principal of 9to5 Realty, is not a Realtor member. Yet, Larry Mayall, in our opinion, is acting as a principal of 9to5 Realty; therefore Larry Mayall is out of compliance with this policy. We’ve given them a date of March 12 to comply.”

Wade said if Mark Mayall joins MAAR as a Realtor member, he would pay for himself and his 38 agents, roughly $380 per licensee. That includes MLS fees plus membership dues for the local, state and national associations. But if not, the suspension will be enforced.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll have compliance by the end of March 12,” Wade said. “If not, then First National Realty will be suspended from membership.”