Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
Boston Condos for Sale and Apartments for Rent
Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
Zillow took brokers by surprise this week, rolling out a first effort to get in line with the National Association of Realtors’ antitrust settlement.
The tech giant announced it is offering home touring agreements for buyer’s agents in the first step toward the new status quo under NAR rules slated to take effect this summer.
A federal judge issued an initial greenlight for deals proposed by five brokerages targeted in antitrust lawsuits over broker commissions.
Preliminarily approved settlement agreements from:
Compass
Douglas Elliman
The Real Brokerage
@properties
Realty One
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@properties and Christie’s International Real Estate opt to settle broker-commission lawsuits
At World Properties LLC, the Chicago-based company that owns @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, has agreed to settle all claims brought by sellers relating to broker commissions.
This agreement comes one day after the company was added to the nationwide lawsuit, Gibson, which echoes the now-infamous Sitzer-Burnett suit and previously named Compass, eXp, Redfin, Douglas Elliman, and other real estate companies.
At World Properties’ settlement applies to that and all future lawsuits with the same cause of action. It also covers all company-owned brokerages. In addition to @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, that includes the Ansley Real Estate and Sereno brands, plus independently owned brokerages under the @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate umbrella.
As part of the settlement, those brokerages will adopt policies and procedures outlined in previous settlement agreements related to the topic, including:
– Reminding company-owned and affiliate brokerages, and agents, that there is no requirement to make offers to, or accept offers of compensation from, buyer representatives;
• Requiring brokerages and agents to disclose to prospective homebuyers and sellers that brokerage commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable;
• Prohibiting all brokerages and agents acting as buyer representatives from advertising or otherwise representing that their services are free;
• Requiring brokerages and agents to disclose at the earliest moment possible any offer of compensation made in connection with each home marketed to a prospective buyer;
• Prohibiting brokerages and agents from filtering out or restricting listings based on the level of compensation offered to a cooperating broker, unless directed to do so by the client;
• Advising and periodically reminding brokerages and agents of their obligation to show properties regardless of the compensation offered to buyer brokers;
• Developing training materials consistent with the above policies.
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Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
A federal judge on Tuesday preliminarily approved an agreement proposed by the National Association of Realtors to settle landmark antitrust lawsuits over broker commissions.
The order comes after the plaintiffs in the Missouri-based Sitzer/Burnett case filed a motion for preliminary approval on Friday, according to court documents and first reported by Inman. That filing set off a 60-day countdown for the large brokerages that aren’t cleared by the settlement.
More than 90 firms facing similar antitrust claims — including Redfin, @properties, Real Brokerage and the Agency — aren’t cleared by the settlement.
However, these larger brokerages can opt in to the agreement by paying the average of their total volume from 2020 to 2023 and multiplying it by 0.0025, which some have argued is prohibitively expensive.
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Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
While the media has been stirring up their hysteria over the commission decoupling…..this from CNN:
It’s the second part of the settlement that will likely frustrate buyers even further:
The same thing will happen with the buyer-broker agreements. I’ve already had a Coldwell Banker agent tell me that if I was going to submit an offer on his listing, to make sure I include a copy of my buyer-broker agreement. It’s not required until July, but hey, it’s never too early to bust the chops of the buyer agents!
Secondly, think about the buyers who haven’t found a buyer-agent they liked yet, and just want to attend an open house that looked semi-interesting online.
The new rule says you can’t see open houses without a buyer-broker agreement.
Open-house agents
Opne house brokers will be manning the front door with their “sign-in” sheets. But now those sheets will be committing the buyer to a buyer-agent commitment too. Will the agents mention that part? How many unwitting buyers will attend an open house in July and then find themselves in a 3-month or 6-month commitment with an agent they just met?
The legit agents will at least designate their agreement for this house only, where the buyers are committed to the agent if they buy the open house. But those buyers will be giving up their name, address, phone, and email so if you don’t buy this one, the agents keep contacting you until you buy or die.
Oh, you don’t like that program?
Janet had the best reply so far, “Hey, don’t blame us, it’s the DOJ”.
Where is Ford Realty Located?
Ford Realty is located in 137 Charles Street in Beacon Hill
Byline – John Ford – Boston Seaport Condo Broker.
Ford Realty Inc., Boston Real Estate for Sale
Click to View Google Review
Updated: Boston Real Estate 2024
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Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
Boston condo commission and NAR lawsuit verdict – Bullet item summary
Update on Boston Real Estate Commissions
Yesterday, I contacted our local MLS, I wanted to find out how the recent NAR verdict impacts Boston condo broker commissions. The following is the resposnse that I received:
It’s important to note that MLS PIN is not an association-owned MLS; therefore, we are not affiliated with NAR. That said, please know that we are doing our due diligence to evaluate NAR’s proposed settlement. We hope to have more information to share with our customers sooner rather than later, but at this point, we are still involved in pending litigation and are unable to comment further.
What was the real estate lawsuit about?
At the heart of the lawsuit is broker commissions, or the fees paid by home sellers to brokers for executing transactions or providing other services — like schedule property showings — which are generally factored into the listing price of a home.
What was the verdict in the lawsuit?
(NAR) and some of the largest real estate brokers in the country were found guilty of colluding to inflate real estate commissions.
Why it matters:
The verdict is a major shake up to the U.S. real estate market and could change how Boston condo for sale buyers purchase homes, or specifically, how Boston condo broker are compensated for broker fees.
The big picture:
The jury, after around two weeks of testimony from the plaintiffs and defendants, ordered the NAR and real estate franchises HomeServices of America and Keller Williams to pay $1.78 billion in damages to the sellers of more than 260,000 homes in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois — the plaintiffs in the case.
The case is just one class-action lawsuit against the defendants, and the guilty verdict, if upheld, could spawn new legal actions in other states including Massachusetts.
What they’re saying:
Representatives for the NAR and HomeServices of America said they planned to appeal the verdict, while a spokesperson for Keller Williams said the company would consider appealing.
“It will likely be several years before this case is finally resolved,” Williams of the NAR said.
Short Summary of NAR lawsuit
At the heart of the lawsuit is broker commissions, or the fees paid by home sellers to brokers for executing transactions or providing other services — like schedule property showings — which are generally factored into the listing price of a home.
Specifically at issue is the seller’s fee payments to the buyer’s Realtor, which are in part governed by the NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule, Axios’ Emily Peck reports.
Updated: Boston condo for sale website 2024
Click Here to view: Google Ford Realty Inc Reviews
