Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry - #17
Wednesday June 27, 2007
Use of MLS Rules to Disadvantage CompetitorsDiscrimination Against Brokers Entering Into Exclusive Agency Listing Contracts
The report states that the Exclusive Agency Listing is the type of agreement used in most fee-for-service transactions. This allows the seller to attempt to locate their own buyer and avoid commissions completely. Other than the possible problem of a dispute arising if the seller claims a buyer that is also claimed by a participating broker, this type of agreement shouldn't be too threatening. It is probable that some brokers/agents would opt not to show homes with this type of listing due to the concern of a commission dispute. This is probably one rationale for some MLS's trying to exclude the Exclusive Agency listing. However, the government has made it very clear that they believe this practice to be unfriendly to consumers and has taken action against MLS's in different areas of the country.Discrimination Against VOW's
The VOW, or Virtual Office Website policy is pretty much on hold at NAR due to the DOJ lawsuit alleging that the NAR VOW policies violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The main bone of contention is the ability of individual brokers to opt out of displaying their listings on individual VOW sites. We'll just have to wait for the outcome of the suit to see what happens with NAR and Virtual Office Websites.
The report states that the Exclusive Agency Listing is the type of agreement used in most fee-for-service transactions. This allows the seller to attempt to locate their own buyer and avoid commissions completely. Other than the possible problem of a dispute arising if the seller claims a buyer that is also claimed by a participating broker, this type of agreement shouldn't be too threatening. It is probable that some brokers/agents would opt not to show homes with this type of listing due to the concern of a commission dispute. This is probably one rationale for some MLS's trying to exclude the Exclusive Agency listing. However, the government has made it very clear that they believe this practice to be unfriendly to consumers and has taken action against MLS's in different areas of the country.
The VOW, or Virtual Office Website policy is pretty much on hold at NAR due to the DOJ lawsuit alleging that the NAR VOW policies violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The main bone of contention is the ability of individual brokers to opt out of displaying their listings on individual VOW sites. We'll just have to wait for the outcome of the suit to see what happens with NAR and Virtual Office Websites.
Entire series: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19 & final
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