I am considering switching to referring status and not actually practicing real estate right now. Do referring agents still need to pay NAR and MLS fees?

Heidi

No, but you still need an active license to be eligible, which means unless you are a broker your going to need to be under someones license, and if they are active, they will probably be members which requires you to be a member.

In California thanks to the feds you can belong to a MLS and not the board so there are a few brokers where you can avoid NAR.

Might depend on your local board. Generally, the local board will require any licensed salesperson employed under a broker-member to also join the board (and CAR/NAR). I have heard that some boards will allow exceptions for salespeople who are in referring-only status and not otherwise engaging in other real estate activities.