The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has requested the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has the right to reopen an antitrust investigation that was resolved in a 2020 settlement.
NAR’s writ of certiorari argues that the DOJ’s actions were without precedent and that the settlement needs to be honored. The trade group stated it was “critical because the government enters into contracts in a vast range of contexts… in which contracting partners rely on the government to keep its word.”
NAR also added the decision by DOJ to jettison the agreement when the Biden administration took over the Executive Branch from the Trump administration.
“Although a new administration is free to change the government’s policies, it is not free to repudiate the government’s contracts,” NAR added.
In April, the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, ruled the DOJ could reopen its investigation into the trade group’s Participation Rule and Clear Cooperation Policy. In a 2-1 ruling, the court determined the four-year-old settlement did not prohibit the DOJ from reopening its probe into NAR’s policy. The appeals court overturned a district court ruling from January 2023 that determined the terms of an earlier settlement were still valid and allowing the investigation to resume would take away the benefits NAR had negotiated in the original settlement.
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This needs to happen. Negotiation terms were clearly transparent in the original documents. This is a waste of tax payer money. How about spending tax payer money on much more profound issues, such as California allowing illegal immigrants to purchase homes with American secured loans. To include all illegal immigrants. yet another crazy little piece of legislation. Whose interest benefits from this action. Can anyone answer this question
I can’t answer but I can second this perspective.
And I 3rd that perspective!
A reinvestigation or reopening of the settlement may confuse millions of consumers.
Better vote for Trimp
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NAR should have hired better attorneys. You rolled over and turned this industry upside down. Shame on you
You got it exactly right! Turned the whole industry upside down because of a suspicion of some minuscule amount of alleged conduct by at best only a minuscule number of agents. Better lawyers would not have had to bend the whole industry over for alleged conduct that is minimal to essentially nonexistent.
AMEN! Maybe it should be considered that NAR is a monopoly itself! Of it’s just because of them coining the word “Realtor” why not start at competitive MLS System with the words “National Association of Real Estate Professionals”. Those of us that pay NAR are the ones being hurt. just a thought. I am 75 and do not have a pension waiting for me if Incan ever retire at all. Thanks a lot NAR.
Exactly. Lousy attorneys.
Absolutely NAR is a disgrace. We, the agents, are paying for this sham of representation. This settlement has had the opposite effect as those buyers with limited funds may now have to assume the burden of commission payment outside their mortgage terms. NAR you SUCK!
John Trandel
Baird & Warner Real Estate
Barrington Illinois
I don’t think anyone actually understands any of this. Realtors are ultimately paying the price.
This has always sounded a little off to me, and I am still wondering who benefits from these changes?
No one except the attorneys who won the sham case.
The attorneys
The New CEO of the NAR , Ms Wright never held a realtor or Brokers license . She was CEO of Rupert Mordocs Non Profit Sun Media company . NAR is now dominated and controlled by the Leftis Woke Media . Black Rock is the the major holder of Zillow shares . The NAR law suit is primarily to track buyers . Zillow have been tracking sellers for over a decade with algorithm , they now want to track and control the market tracking Seller and Buyer algorithms . Media will determine the price of Real estate ready Zillow. /Black Rock purchase and sale .They are out to destroy the independent Realtor . Wake the Fook Up Realtors .
You’re exactly right when I read this whole settlement I knew this was a huge error and this was a rollover. Completely disgusted. This is just another way for the government to control another entity, us being one of the largest entities people in real estate
I completely agree with you Marilyn and everyone else who responded!!
Great News and certainly a very worthy endeavor on Realtors behalf
I just saw 4 lawyers laughing like crazy on their way to the bank.
It’s the general public and Realtors who are paying the price for this.
Yes! We settled because this left leaning DOJ would only want to drag this out and ruin our ability to move on and get back to what we do, sell real estate. It might be time to file some counter suits against DOJ—
That would be awesome Melissa!
California assembly bill 1840 was passed by the legislature but was immediately vetoed by the Governor. The bill would have allowed undocumented people to receive interest free loans for down payments of up to $150,000 provided they had filed and paid taxes. The veto message said there were two primary reasons for the veto: It was unfair to documented citizens and California’s budget did not have adequate funds.
What’s that have to do with the settlement issue?
Tell me how undocumented persons can file taxes AND buy property with no documentation again? You sound like a bot or a paid propagandist only here to spread disinformation and create division.
The NAR should never have agreed to force a realtor to request that a buyer pay a New York realtor a commission for working with the buyer as the buyer’s broker when such realtor is not the listing agent. Sellers in New York always understood that realtors expected to be paid out of the sale transaction at closing, including when the realtor who was not the listing agent worked for the seller as a Broker’s agent. The pre-existing forms could have been amended to make this crystal clear to any seller if the forms did not do so adequately in the past. The NAR and DOJ are actually forcing buyers to work with the listing agents rather than to choose a buyer’s agent because it is hard for buyers to save up down payments, and therefore most cannot afford the additional expense of paying a buyer’s representative. When this happens, it creates an issue of dual agency. Who is the listing agent representing in this situation when a buyer works with the listing agent to avoid paying a buyer’s broker fee? This is going to cause a major problem for many realtors to earn a living because many realtors count on working with buyers to bring in a sale when they do not have the listing and to ultimately be paid through the closing transaction. This settlement has created a monopoly for listing agents, and this is a disservice to sellers who will always get a better price for their homes when there is healthy competition from many realtors and their prospective buyers. If the listing agent has one good buyer, why would that listing agent spend excess time to pursue more and more buyers when the job is already done? When this happens, the seller is also the loser because buyer competition will not be encouraged. The seller will always be better off when many agents are working hard to bring in the sale, because this encourages healthy competition and generally leads to the highest and best bid and therefore more money in the seller’s pocket.
Well said
Nailed it. 🎯
Gov. Wants to bust the biggest lobby group, 4sure.
Exactly J Dogg, they don’t want us to even have the ability to buy or own🤬
This current administration is doing all it can to destroy the American Dream and lifestyle!
Transactions are falling apart because of this change, instead of legit issues between buyers/sellers and the actual property.
What a mess. If we keep going this way, soon we may not have a real estate industry. We may not even have a country.
What I have not heard in all of tje arguments is that buyers already pay the brokers with the funds they bring to closing. If it were not for the buyers’ funds, there would be no compensation to brokers, title companies, inspectors, lenders, etc. Sellers simply release the broker compensation to the buyer broker. Shame on NAR for capitulating.
NAR didn’t have the money to defend itself against the deep pockets of the DOJ. Everyone should know that this DOJ lawsuit is a malicious attempt to reduce the number of self-employed Americans.
I’ve been saying this all along.
My understanding was there were four different problems the agreement covered. Full disclosure of Buyer Agent commission was only one of them. Allowing access of non-Realtors to the electronic keyboxes was another. Realtor associations did nothing to correct this and instead chose to ignore the principles of the agreement so the DOJ decided to go after them. We were a nation of laws and an organization can not on their own decide which laws they are going to follow and then ignore other ones. This goes for government as well and we can see the results of a lawless government.
What’s left after this settlement?
So far, I have found that Sellers are paying cooperative commissions as they did previously. Landlords are doing the same.
The reasons for cooperative commissions are painfully obvious. If I list a property, I explain to the owner that a portion of the total commission will be paid to any agent who brings a ready, willing and able buyer. I never met a Seller who was not aware of this arrangement. It is spelled out in our local listing agreements, both the total commission and any part that will be paid to a cooperating agent. They sign the document. The number of potential buyers who will know about the property is multiplied with this arrangement. The Seller is likely to net more in the sale.
When lawyers get together to decide how our business should be operated, they only feel they have succeeded if new mandatory addenda, or disclosures, are produced. When I started 33 years ago, a sales contract was 2 or 3 pages. A lease was 1 or 2 pages. Today a sales contract can easily exceed 50 pages (sometimes much more). Leases may be 30 or more pages. More time is wasted producing redundant and unnecessary paperwork. Working with a lower end tenant or buyer may be a loss-making activity for many agents.
We also lost some transparency regarding what is paid to who. Because the MLS is not permitting advertised commission splits, it takes considerable time to ascertain what the going rates are. Before this settlement, consumers were able to anticipate exactly what their real estate agent would be paid. Not anymore.
I am delighted to see the DOJ challenged by the National Association of Realtors. The DOJ’s interference in the real estate industry has done nothing to benefit the consumer/homeowner. There has never been price fixing nor collusion industry-wide. When you hire a general contractor, you have no say in how they operate their business nor pay their subcontractors at what rate for what services. When you hire a licensed REALTOR, you get a bundle of services for a fully disclosed fee. The end result is to gain the most money for your sale or the most value for your purchase. The consumer needs to use common sense to vet the professional they choose to work with, no different than vetting a doctor, lawyer, accountant or other professional
Most Realtors seem to be blaming the Attorneys that represented NAR and they may share some of the blame, but the real blame is borne by the NAR leadership. We need to start fighting back and we should never agreed to this settlement. I say we because I am a member, but no one asks me what I thought. We need to clean house and get rid of these woke wimps that agreed to this settlement.
DOJ is a criminal org like DHS (FEMA, SS, border security), lawfare rules & NAR has been taken over DEI hires & those who are down w globalism. No one trusts our current govt & realtors don’t trust NAR.