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In a move to protect the consumer in Kentucky, the state legislature has rejected a proposal by the Kentucky Real Estate Commission to insist on consumers have a minimum of services they would have to be provided by a real estate agent. This means that a consumer could not get just the services they wanted, but a package of services that would protect the large commissions  a real estate agent is used to receiving.

This legislation, had it passed in the original form proposed by the KREC would have made it an act of gross negligence on the part of brokers that did not provide home sellers with a certain level of service whether they requested it or not. Additionally it would have limited the choices available to consumers of real estate service in the state.

The prospect of passing this law was opposed by the US Justice Department Antitrust Division, The Federal Trade Commission, The American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance, and many real estate brokers and consumer groups because it was viewed as anticompetitive and harmful to consumers.

“Consumers should be able to select the level of service that they want from a real estate broker and not be expected to pay for services they don’t want or need” according to the US Department Of Justice Anti Trust Division, which has opposed similar legislation in nearly a dozen other states. via NewswireToday.

A Pro Minimum Services Argument can be found here.

Related posts:

1. Commision Rebates Battle Hits the Tennessee State House
2. Minimum Service Laws Can Hurt Consumers
3. Indiana Enacts Minimum Service Law to Protect Monopoly
4. The Real Estate Cartel Controls the Market? Is it True?
5. New York Lists Real Estate Agents with Disciplinary Actions Against Them