The Case the Industry Forgot — Part 1 of 8
The decree’s core principle fits in one sentence: a broker may not decide what a rival broker’s customers are allowed to see. Display decisions belong to the seller. Data flows to every cooperating broker on cost based, equal terms.
Breaking News in FTC v. Zillow/Redfin Lawsuit
This is one of the FTC’s most significant recent actions involving online real estate and rental marketplaces. The agency’s position is that paying a competitor to exit a market can violate antitrust law when it reduces competition and consumer choice — the “pay to exit” theory.
Preliminary Approval In Homebuyer $120 Million Class Action Settlement
The Settlement here does not overlap with any of the existing home seller settlements. Rather, this Settlement resolves the legal claims of homebuyers who were not included in the home seller settlement
Compass v. NWMLS: A Battle Over Real Estate Innovation and Market Control
The Compass v. NWMLS lawsuit is a pivotal moment in the real estate industry’s evolution, pitting a self-proclaimed disruptor against a powerful, broker-owned MLS. Compass’s allegations of monopoly power, anti-competitive rules, suppressed innovation, and consumer harm strike at the heart of how real estate markets operate.
Just Who Is Roger P. Alford?
Roger P. Alford will serve as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Alford previously served in the first Trump Administration as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division, including as an expert witness in the landmark 2023 real estate $1.8 billion litigation against the National Association of Realtors
MLS Choice and the NAR Three-Way Agreement
While we’ll be looking at the increasing number of lawsuits centering around the Three-Way Agreement issue, it is worth keeping a close eye on the reaction of local associations to challenges voiced by some of its members to lessening the costs for services they don’t consider essential to their business.