Agency letter offers first clue that the Clear Cooperation Policy may be part of a 'broader investigation' into trade group's rules
Real estate giants ask court to toss the discount brokerage's lawsuit over optional MLS rule
The National Association of Realtors countered that the Consumer Federation of America's assertions are 'wrong and misleading' and 'commissions are very much negotiable'
The antitrust regulator said the trade group refused to modify the deal to protect the agency's ability to investigate other NAR conduct that could impact real estate competition
Lina Khan's appointment at the Federal Trade Commission last week appears to indicate the Biden administration plans to take an aggressive approach to antitrust regulation
The Department of Justice and The PLS argue that lower court should have considered Clear Cooperation Policy's impact on brokers who directly purchase access to listing services, not on buyers and sellers
Lawsuits alleging that NAR rules regarding multiple listing services prop up commissions that inflate buyer and seller costs keep proliferating
The well-connected discount brokerage is trying to raise more funding and grow its business as it takes on industry behemoths NAR and Zillow
Rules regarding public display of buyer broker commissions and lockbox access for non-Realtors were originally slated to take effect by the end of March
The new antitrust lawsuit, filed Friday in California, also names the National Association of Realtors, Realogy, Keller Williams, RE/MAX and several other companies as defendants
Trade group's president accuses commission detractors of duplicity 'for a payout' under the guise of protecting consumers
The Consumer Federation of America and the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group argue that prohibiting rebates to buyers and sellers stifles commission competition and harms consumers
Real estate commissions are inflated by as much as $50B per year due to the lack of price competition created by having listing brokers set co-op fees for buyer brokers, according to the report in the Berkeley Business Law Journal
CoreLogic board asks for more cash for shareholders and a shorter deal time to make up for CoStar's stock price volatility
The former private listing network for agents seeks to overturn a ruling that threw out its lawsuit alleging the National Association of Realtors' Clear Cooperation Policy harms competition