DOJ and NAR Reach Settlement in Suit After Technology Has Moved Forward
The long running lawsuit that the Department of Justice has brought against the National Association of Realtors has been settled. The big winners were the lawyers.
What a surprise.
The amazing thing about monopoly and governmental lawsuits against companies over the issues of technology is that by the time the slow gears of justice run their course, the battle has long been over.
This is the case of the NAR. The opening of the MLS systems to online and virtual real estate companies has long been over. The bigger battle will be the viability of maintaining an expensive MLS in the age of Trulias and Zillows.
Think about it, the lawsuit was to force the brokerages to allow online real estate agents to post their homes. Now we have the major real estate firms signing deals with Zillow to post their listings directly bypassing these online agents.
So essentially the National Association of Realtors has spent their dues not on developing better systems to grow the business of their members, but to fight for the right to have the monopoly on buggy whips. ‘
You have to love the bureaucracy in action.
Update:
Some more coverage across the blogosphere:
- The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
- Bloodhound Blog
- Jonathan Dalton
- Sellsius (some interesting legal points)
- 1000Watt
- Jeff Jarvis (an anti-realtor blogger)
- RealCentralVA
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Comment by Sell My House on 28 May 2008:
It is amazing to see how the government can step in and change the way business is done. With websites like Zillow providing some value. I still don’t think that will take away from professional real estate people. Zillow is a great tool but there still has to be somone who can do the dirty work.
Comment by TW Shortt on 29 May 2008:
Although consumers probably won’t actually see any benefit from this settlement agreement, it does send a strong message to the real estate industry to stop erecting barriers to alternative business models.
The US real estate industry, dominated by the National Association of REALTORS and its affiliates nationwide is still a closed business that is highly resistant to change.
Implementing any change that would have a direct impact on consumers (like lowers fees) is like trying to turn the Titanic around in a bathtub.
Most consumers have no idea that the NAR has a strangle hold on virtually every state real estate regulatory body (the very entity that was established to protect consumers). They exercise this control through their state affiliates and it goes virtually unnoticed.
Real estate regulatory bodies like the Kentucky Real Estate Commission (KREC), operate with little or no oversight and rarely make a move without the direct involvement of the Kentucky Association Of REALTORS (KAR). It’s easy enough to see that that the objectives of the KAR would be “industry” oriented and that the KREC should be “consumer” oriented.
We are not likely to see any meaningful change in the way the real estate industry functions until we restore independence to real estate regulators.
Currently in many states, a position on the state real estate regulatory body is a “pay-back” for past political involvement and has to be approved by the state REALTOR trade group.
What we actually need are “subject matter experts” serving the interest of consumers and establishing reasonable rules and policies that reflect the fact that we are living in 2008 not 1960.
Comment by Murfreesboro townhomes for rent on 20 October 2008:
I have a problem with monopolies in the fact that every big company is basically a monopoly. The electric companies are monopolies, cable companies are monopolies so on and so on. I say let the market decide what happens!