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Real Estate News


REALTOR GROUPS CONSPIRED TO INFLATE COMMISSIONS, JURY FINDS


PLAINTIFFS ARGUED THAT SELLERS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY THE BUYER'S AGENT
COMMISSION.

. Adobe Stock

By Jim Morrison -- Boston.com Correspondent

October 31, 2023 | 4:00 PM
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A jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday found the National Association of
Realtors, Keller Williams, and HomeServices of America guilty of conspiring to
conflate commissions, according to news reports.

The defendants were ordered to pay $1.78 billion in damages, HousingWire
reported. The Real Deal said the judge needs to issue a final ruling before the
verdict is finalized.

But its potential impact on how home sales are conducted in Massachusetts is
unclear.

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In the class-action suit Sitzer/Burnett v. National Association of Realtors,
plaintiffs alleged they were unfairly made to compensate the buyer’s agent when
they sold their homes.

RE/Max, which was also named in the suit, settled for $55 million, according to
NAR. Anywhere Real Estate, which owns Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s
International, and other large brokerages, reportedly settled for $83.5 million.

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At issue was NAR’s “participation rule,” which the organization had interpreted
to mean that listing agents had to offer compensation to buyer’s agents, The
Real Deal reported on Oct. 9. Now the organization is contending that brokers
can offer buyer’s agents zero compensation, the news site said.

Plaintiffs argue that the rule violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors, the state chapter of NAR, did not
respond to a request for an interview, but Anthony Lamacchia, broker/owner of
Lamacchia Realty and a proud member of the organization, released a video
Wednesday blasting the verdict. He has been a vocal critic of the suit from the
outset, legal action he sees as a money grab over meaningless semantics.

In a live video feed on YouTube and Facebook, Lamacchia praised the NAR, Keller
Williams and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services [an affiliate of HomeServices of
America] for not settling. He said he strongly disagreed with the verdict,
assured his audience the NAR would appeal, and advised viewers not to panic.

“These things happen, folks,” he said. “This is what I want you to hear more
than anything else. As of today, as of tomorrow, next week, next month, two
months from now, it is business as usual. Nothing changes. Nothing horrible has
happened.”

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He said he expects prospective homes ellers will be asking more questions about
buyer’s agents will be compensated, so agents should make sure they explain it
to them clearly, so there are no misunderstandings. He also expects more
lawsuits may follow.

“It probably also means that� Michael Ketchmark, this money-grabbing lawyer, is
going to go out and sue many other companies,” Lamacchia said. “I already saw
someone on Twitter put a list of the next level of companies that he’s going to
sue. Well, if he keeps it up, he might get down to suing our company as well.”

“Somewhere along the line this is going to get worked out,” he said. “We as an
industry will prevail.”

Lamacchia said Monday that the suit threatens a return to “the old days of
buyers having no one on their side unless they can afford to pay for it.”

“These plaintiffs and their counsel couldn’t care less about home buyers and
what this could do to them and their ability to obtain representation when
buying a home,” Lamacchia said.� 

In Massachusetts, listing agents typically charge the seller a negotiable
percentage of the home sale price at closing. The owner gets the proceeds of the
sale minus the commission, which is dispersed to the brokerage. The brokerage
then takes its cut and gives the listing and buyer’s agents their agreed-upon
split.

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Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that if home buyers want representation, they should
pay for it out of their own pocket.

Jack Gately, owner of Online Real Estate Academy and Jack Gately Real Estate, is
not a NAR member and has covered the trial on his YouTube channel. He said
mortgage lenders don’t allow buyers to roll broker commissions into their
mortgages, but if they did, that would be an acceptable solution to him.

Mortgage regulations currently allow some closing costs to be rolled into a
mortgage, raising buyer’s monthly payments only a few dollars a month.

In a September 2023 report, the Consumer Federation of America said “the easiest
and most effective” resolution “is to modify federal mortgage regulations to
allow buyers to finance buyer agent commissions.”

MORE ON REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

 * SHOULD YOU NEGOTIATE WHAT YOU PAY IN REAL ESTATE COMMISSIONS?

 * US OPENS ANTITRUST PROBE OF REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE INDUSTRY

 * 5 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE YOU HIRE A REAL ESTATE AGENT


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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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