Has anyone read about their brilliant tactic to fight against consumers and protect their powerful industry? The NAR is seeking government intervention to protect consumers. Before this, have you ever heard of an industry seeking legislation for itself?
This is how they will get around the Dept. of Justice anti-competitive rules: They persuade a state legislature to impose minimum-service requirements on real estate brokers. The new rules compel brokers to serve as middlemen, even if their clients want to eliminate the middleman.
The NAR laywer admitted that “statutes enacted by a state Legislature are exempt from scrutiny under the federal antitrust laws.”
“The way they’re going about limiting consumers’ ability to get reduced fees on real estate transactions is to go state by state to get the regulations changed,” says Colby Sambrotto, chief operating officer of ForSaleByOwner.com.
The measures captured the attention of federal antitrust lawyers, who in 2005 warned half a dozen states that the bills they were considering were anti-competitive. Of those six states — Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas — all but Michigan adopted the requirements anyway.
New Mexico was the most recent state to snub the Justice Department. The new law forced some Texas discount brokers to raise their prices (due to the law).
This is a brilliant move by the NAR, but where does that leave the consumer, and how that restriction in business offerings stack up in the internet age? Fortunately, CA has not (yet) enacted the minimum-service rule.
We must all remember that the NAR is not as interested in helping buyers and sellers as they are in protecting the 2-agent, 5-6% commission structure. They are scared to death of the impending changes.
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