>Realtors are far from a respected profession in the U.S. beyond envy of the money some of them make.

A friend here told me that not all the real estate agents are realtors. When I asked him what's the difference, he said that realtors are members of some association... which pretty much invented the definition. And they got the copyright or a trademark or whatever, so you can't be a realtor unless you are allowed into the club and pay the membership fee.

I never heard this story again, so I can't know how much truth is in it. Can you confirm or debunk this?