Know when to say no to real estate commission discussions 
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, November 3, 2011.
When I was taking classes to get my real estate license, I was reminded over and over again that it is against the law for real estate licensees to discuss commissions with competitors. We were told that discussing commissions with our competitors could be a violation of the Sherman Antitrust act, and brokers used to be afraid -- paranoid, even.
The idea behind the law was to foster competition in the marketplace. If all of the brokerages got together and decided what to charge and then charged that amount to consumers, there would be restricted competition -- we could, as a group, work to block others from introducing lower-cost business models. The Department of Justice has had the National Association of Realtors in its sights for years.
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