Justice Dept settles antitrust suit against MLS that shut out fee-for-service brokers
Posted by nithi.vivatrat on May 15, 2009
Some of you may have noticed that Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General and head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, made headlines in the past few days by clearly indicating the beginning of heightened antitrust enforcement. She also recently withdrew a Bush administration report that advocated less aggressive antitrust laws.
What you might have missed is the Justice Department’s announcement last week of a settlement with Consolidated Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (CMLS) of Columbia, SC. The Justice department argued that CMLS implemented anti-competitive restrictions such as prohibitions on home offices and “active involvement” requirements that would essentially rule out fee-for-service brokers who only charged for the specific services the consumer desired (a la SmithAdams). The result, according to the settlement: “Columbia-area home sellers [were] unable to hire brokers with innovative business models such as ‘fee-for-service’ brokers who would provide only the services the sellers desired at a lower cost than full service brokers typically charged.”
Fortunately for consumers, CMLS agreed to repeal these anti-competitive rules to settle the case. See the full text of the CMLS settlement here on the DoJ Antitrust Division web site.
Assistant Attorney General Varney commented in the DoJ press release:
“Today’s settlement will remove unlawful impediments to competition for real estate brokerage services in the Columbia area and will lead to more choices and lower brokerage fees for South Carolina consumers. For most Americans, purchasing a home is the most significant purchase of their life. This settlement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continuing commitment to preserve competition in the real estate brokerage industry.”
Score another point for consumer choice.