DOJ vs. NAR Lawsuit - The Aftermath

You might have heard that the litigation between the National Association of REALTORS vs. Department of Justice has been settled.  At issue was whether discount brokerage firms could be blocked from posting information about listings directly to the local MLS, and whether they had - my words - "full MLS privileges". 

The DOJ said no.  NAR obviously disagreed.  Now we have a settlement.  What's it all mean?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo Credit

I don't really know yet.  I'd forgotten that the thing was still even out there on the table, and it still needs to be ruled on by a judge in July.  Here are some thoughts:

• as agents, we're putting our listings everywhere we can.  We're not advertising solely in print, or solely on TV, or solely on our own website, we're putting our listings everywhere.  MLS-access isn't the central issue any longer. 
• one of the pieces the DOJ is touting as a positive is a savings of $2200, on average, per real estate transaction.  I'm not crying about reduced commissions, that's a soapbox and conversation for another day.  What's the government doing getting involved in effectively setting prices for a private industry?  I'm not referring to NAR being private industry - the National Association of REALTORS is a special-interest group.  I'm referring to me, moi ... my pocket ... what's the government doing getting involved in MY paycheck?  They're already getting their piece of my pie several times a year, now they want to cut my income further?
• I doubt the majority of the 1+ million members of NAR have any idea what this suit was about, and I doubt it's going to affect their business much.  I don't know that this was a victory for NAR any more than it was a victory for DOJ, and I don't care, to be honest.  We'll keep moving forward, adjusting our business to account for consumer preferences, and attempting to provide the absolute best service we can, each and every time.

You can read more coverage at some of these sites ... some of the comments are even more insightful, and some are just comical.  Enjoy.  What do you think - who wins here?

Agent Genius

CNN.com

Michael Wurzer of flexMLS

Sellsius

Jim Duncan

Inman News

Tech Crunch

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Comments

[Tom Vanderwell]

Jeremy,

I agree. Too many people are getting hung up on details. Let's just keep doing business and there will still be business to be done. You make adjustments and move on.

Well said.

Tom