The US Department of Justice (DOJ) told the US Supreme Court that it never committed not to reopen its investigation into the National Association of Realtors (NAR) despite its 2020 consent decree that settled a probe of the organization.
According to a Law360 report, the DOJ made its case in a filing following NAR’s October petition to the high court over DOJ’s renewal of the investigation of NAR’s Participation Rule and Clear Cooperation Policy. In April, the US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the DOJ could reopen its investigation NAR, reversing a January 2023 appeals court decision that said the terms of the earlier settlement were still valid and allowing the investigation to resume would take away the benefits NAR had negotiated in the original settlement.
“The disputed question is whether, in addition to agreeing to close the investigation, the division agreed not to reopen it,” the DOJ said its new filing. “As the court explained, no such commitment appears in ‘the plain language’ of the parties’ agreement … Although the division agreed to close its investigation, the words ‘close’ and ‘reopen’ are not mutually exclusive.”
The 2020 settlement was agreed upon during the tail end of the first Trump administration and then jettisoned with the Biden administration. It is unclear if the second Trump administration that begins next month drop the renewed investigation or if it will continue to pursue the matter.
No one will ever trust the DOJ again. Or NAR.
What you say is more accurate than anything you will hear from the federal government and/or the Biden/Harris administration. They are all liars.
Yep – and no one should.
Can you blame the DOJ for doing it’s job?? If NAR had actually been doing IT’s job and holding agent/members/franchises accountable to the Code of Ethics this could all have been avoided. Who are the attorneys for NAR? Sadly they couldn’t even explain how compensation is handled, or the benefits of an MLS. Who is running that place? Clean house and start over.
A “settlement” usually means just that. It doesn’t mean, “Oh hey, let’s open this back up and start all over again!” I don’t blame the DOJ for doing their job the first time, I blame NAR for their poor explanation and lame Attorney pool who couldn’t control this situation. The DOJ reopening this case AGAIN, is ridiculous. It’s like trying a case over and over again until you get the decision you want. Not acceptable.
NAR and it’s attorneys have let all of us down! Let’s have an election for NAR leaders to see how many would keep their jobs.
Hasn’t the NAR become a monopoly? Didn’t the NAR attorneys who created the contracts part of the problem? And to follow up with a post on here, your saying the code of ethics stops bad people from doing bad things, then why don’t we make every politican take the ethics class every two years and a Constitutional class every 2 years and as a nation everything would be perfect. Probably wouldn’t need a DOj!
The DOJ is just flexing their muscles. An agreement/settlement was reached. Why are we wasting taxpayer dollars on this matter? They don’t have anything else to do? Low hanging fruit?
From my research, it appears this all started from what may have been considered anti-trust issues. The “settlement” was just that, a settlement. This is not an admission of guilt. There appeared to be no anti-trust violations. However, in an effort to keep from endless litigation, which would cost more, a settlement was reached in which all parties were satisfied, and REALTOR’s could move forward. We actually benefited in that the NAR actually unified Brokers across multiple states. Although we now have to have a signed Buyers Agency Agreement BEFORE showing properties, this serves to protect Brokers even further. Commissions can still be the same as they were. Even though you may be a “cooperating broker, you can still choose to share whatever amount or none. Helping Sellers to see you are willing to cooperate with Buyers Brokers offers a selling point for listing properties.
Rick Creel’s thought? Dec. 16, 11:20 a.m. / Broker’s Transaction Fee (Most of the world wide Practice. Buyer & Seller establish valve once “They” have agreed upon a Transfer Value. Yes, N.A.R. came up with a well written “cover your backside” “OPTION” However, why had it been ignored without discovery for so many years? And, yes settlement to avoid additional litigation cost etc. “Understood” we now have a convoluted process of fragmented commission applications that simply create “Greed” or at best Confusion and discourse. Buyer/Seller still set the Transfer Price and often now “lower offers to cover one side or the other” to bring the two together. Commissions have always varied across the country and now more than ever. So, what does that change!? A foundation for thought and certainly to address +/- open for discussion….
My question is, who really made out on this farce….follow the money….(hint) slick attorneys) It would be interesting to find out who and how much they made?
Frankly, I would like to see this go back to the new (not corrupt) DOJ that will not be trying to take over the industry.
The outcome would be very different since the new government believes in capitalism and won’t feel the urge to control such a large portion of the GDP.
Now we need a new (not corrupt) NAR.