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Heated debates over the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy have continued even after the association announced its decision over a month ago to keep the policy while adding a new listing option for homesellers. However, Illinois lawmakers are now also adding their voices to the discussion — and may give the policy new weight, if a version of it is passed into law in the state.
House Bill 3452, proposed by Illinois State Representative Lilian Jiménez, would modify the Illinois Real Estate License Act of 2000 so that brokerages would be required to publicly advertise or market properties for sale or for rent on public platforms within one calendar day of entering into an agreement with the seller or landlord of the property, unless that seller or landlord signs a disclosure and marketing opt-out form provided by Illinois’ Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
The bill was introduced in early February by Rep. Jiménez and has been in committee since March 21. Partners on the bill include the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) and Zillow, according to Rep. Jiménez. She serves a district in Chicago where home prices have rapidly risen in recent years; she said one of her goals with the bill was to promote fair housing and buyer access to all homes that are for sale.
“There is a long history of redlining, block-busting and segregation in our communities, and I think the real estate industry, just like every other industry, needs to have a certain level of guardrails — which we can call regulation — but just means that the consumers’ interests are represented,” Jiménez told RealEstateNews.com.
Zillow has likewise made its own attempt at enforcing Clear Cooperation by rolling out new standards that penalize agents who violate the policy by banning their listings from the Zillow platform. Even so, some brokerages, most notably Compass, continue to lean into office exclusive listings. The brokerage recently announced that it would be providing physical books of its exclusive listings in Compass offices across the country.
Illinois Realtors has said that the bill is not on the association’s legislative agenda.
Jeff Baker, the association’s CEO, told RealEstateNews.com that he believes the bill “was less about Clear Cooperation and was more designed to codify a real estate portal’s business model into state law.”
“The bill was never assigned to a substantive committee for further consideration after its introduction,” Baker continued. “Illinois Realtors is committed to ensuring the Real Estate License Act remains a model for both consumer protection and maintaining a fair and level playing field for real estate practitioners.”
Chicago is a somewhat pocket listing-friendly city, as it happens. The city is under the purview of multiple listing service Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), which has had a Private Listing Network (PLN) for almost 10 years.
