NAR, 113 years later, admits that Realtors don’t work for free

“These local broker marketplaces provide sellers equal access to the largest possible pool of potential buyers and create the greatest number of housing options for buyers in one place without hidden or extra costs.”

Open competition between #Realtors does NOT currently exist in the American #realestate market because of these (4) reasons:

(1) #Kickbacks increase the costs of commissions paid by consumers and steer consumers toward select number of online broker collusion schemes that engage in an open #wirefraud, such as: Zillow.com Flex, Realtor.com (Opcity.com), Redfin.com Partner Agents, Opendoor.com Partner Agents, RocketHomes.com, mellohome.com, HomeLight.com, UpNest.com, Clever Real Estate (listwithclever.com), SOLD.com, Landed.com, LemonBrew.com, OJO Labs (Movoto.com), Xome.com, Better.com Real Estate, Tomo Brokerage (hellotomo.com), Blend.com Realty, RamseySolutions.com, EffectiveAgents.com, HomeCaptain.com, MyAgentFinder.com, FastExpert.com, MILLIE.com (AgentHeroRealty.com), HouseCanary.com (ComeHome.com), NestReady.com, IDEALAGENT.com and some others.

(2) #Pricefixing via “shell” broker-to-broker collusion schemes violates the #ShermanAct, #RESPA, #FTCAct, pretty much every #antitrust law there is. These schemes are operated by “shell” brokers forming illicit networks of competitors.

(3) #Rebate #bans in 10 US states are harmful by default. Jurisdictions where buyer rebates are currently prohibited includes State of Alabama, State of Alaska, State of Iowa, State of Kansas, State of Louisiana, State of Mississippi, State of Missouri, State of Oklahoma, State of Oregon, and State of Tennessee

(4) #False #advertising notion that “buyer agents work for free.”

The U.S. Department of Justice must either dismantle these (4) barriers to competition, or dismantle the entire #MLS.

Unfortunately, as of 2021, Charlie Oppler and the #NAR both falsely claim to foster a “pro-consumer, pro-competitive local broker marketplaces for buyers, sellers and brokers.” This is simply not true. The bulk of the online real estate sector continues to run on illicit #collusion and hidden #kickbacks — with a few #savings and very little #competition.

The vast majority of #Realtors would rather pay out third of their commission into a collusion scam, than of offer this money as savings to their clients.