• Question: I ran my business on the basis that the agents were sharing the listing agent fee so it wasn’t clients. Was that correct?
• Answer: Well, it really doesn’t matter what I think or what you think. What matters is what the Court thought.
• The Court held that the structure of the MLS kept real estate commissions artificially high.
• The plaintiff-homeowners-sellers argued that they never understood they were also paying the buyer’s agent – that there was no informed consent.
• Even when the Northwest MLS eliminated mandatory offers of compensation, there was little change in commission splits.
• Next question involved use of auctions and how many jurors owned homes.
• Not sure although does it really matter? Interesting that all the plaintiff homeowners spoke highly of their REALTORS.
• NAR did not have a decent chance in court to say all the good things the agents do, the pro-consumer services, the marketplace the MLS provides, etc
• Final message was to not let the negative press stop you from conducting business in ways that consumers want and need in buying and selling the right property.
