To all the agents in the house,
When the U.S. Department of Justice announced a simultaneous complaint and settlement with the National Association of Realtors last November, it was a big deal, sure. But the NAR was on top of it. Even today if one does a Google search "DOJ-NAR settlement" the first hit is not the settlement itself, or a news story explaining the deal, but an NAR explainer.
The explainer all but thanked the DOJ for mandating transparency around the commission split given to a homebuyer's real estate agent, a principle part of the agreement. "While the NAR has long encouraged buyers' agents to explain how they expect to be paid," it reads. "There will be a rule that more definitively states that buyers' agents cannot represent their services for free to clients."
But an outwardly cooperative relationship with the DOJ is over for the NAR, which counts as dues-paying members the vast majority of U.S. real estate agents. Last week, the DOJ announced its withdrawal from the settlement. Not because the NAR showed progress complying with its terms, but instead to "permit a broader investigation into NAR's rules and conduct."
Specifically, it would seem, a look into commissions. Richard Powers, the acting assistant attorney general of DOJ – President Biden has yet to nominate someone to lead the antitrust division – is quoted in a press release declaring real estate, "Central to the American economy" as "consumers pay billions of dollars in real estate commissions each year. We cannot be bound by a settlement that prevents our ability to protect competition in a market that profoundly affects Americans' financial well-being."
It's unclear how worried the NAR is about this (a message left with the group yesterday has yet to be returned) but they did slam the DOJ for a "complete, unprecedented breach of an agreement" in a statement last week.
Agents, are you worried? I'm reporting on this right now, and struggling to determine if this is a high-level development that reporters like me find interesting, but actual NAR members find abstract or even irrelevant to their day-to-day life.
A more provocative way of putting it - Do you feel the Justice Department might go after commissions in either attaching itself to lawsuits against the NAR and major brokerages, or a much greater policing in how you do your job?
Please let me know what you're thinking. Email anonymously at mblake@housingwire.com.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
Senior Real Estate Reporter
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