isComponent is not returning trait

Happy new year! I am having an issue with isComponent(). Here is my code:

const log = msg => console.log(msg);

comps.addType('selectReference', {
    model: defaultModel.extend(
    {
      defaults: Object.assign({}, defaultModel.prototype.defaults, {
        traits: [
          {
            changeProp: true,
            type: 'select',
            label: 'Reference ',
            name: 'selectReference',
            options: [] // start out empty and dynamically add to the array
          }
        ]
      }),
      init: function() {
        this.listenTo(this, 'change:selectReference', this.selectSlideSection);
      },
      selectSlideSection: function(e) {
        const referencedSlideSectionId = e.changed['selectReference'];
        const currentSlideSectionId = e.attributes['section-id'];
       
        if (currentSlideSectionId != undefined && currentSlideSectionId != '') {
          //send to ajax function that saves reference 
          saveSlideSectionReference(currentSlideSectionId, referencedSlideSectionId);          
        } else {
          log(referencedSlideSectionId);
        }
      }
    },
    {
      isComponent: function(el) {
        const allowedToHaveReferences = ['type1', 'type2', 'type3'];
        if (el.tagName == 'SECTION' && allowedToHaveReferences.indexOf(el.id) > -1) {
          log('inside');
          return { type: 'selectReference' };
        }  
      }  
    }),
    view: defaultType.view.extend({
      render: function() {
        defaultType.view.prototype.render.apply(this, arguments);
        return this;
      }
    })
  });

For some reason the only time the trait shows up in component settings is when I remove the if-statement completely from isComponent() and just return { type: 'selectReference' }. However, it becomes a trait of everything then. I have checked the el.tagName values and they are what I expect them to be. I have also made sure that I have the correct el.id values. I even checked the if-statement itself and it does indeed pass through the if-statement logs the output correctly. So, I am confused as to why the trait is not being returned. Please help. Thank you!