- Peak Oil Closer Than IEA Forecasts Show: Report
- Fed's Tarullo Backs Surcharges to Limit Bank Size
- Look Ahead: 'Risk On' Sentiment Could Fuel Rally Further
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Obama Sees Strains Unless US, China Balance Growth
- JPMorgan Lifts Salary Freeze Amid Recovery
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- Buffett to Sell Stakes in Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Warren Buffett to Sell Stakes In Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
- Nov. 9: Unusual Volume Leaders
- The Battered Businesses Behind Housing
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Merck’s Mega-Monday Morning
- Why are Traders Bullish on This Food Company?
- Profiting From Natural Gas: Strategists
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
MOST SHARED
- Obama Sees Strains Unless US, China Balance Growth
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Future of Marketing
- Oil Tomorrow
- Mad Mail: Buy the Berkshire Hathaway Split?
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Priceline Crushes Profit Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Framed for Porn – By a PC Virus
- Cramer: 5 Stocks to Play the Next Bull Run
Text Size 
The National Association of Realtors will open its vast listing of homes for sale to cheaper, Internet-based brokers in an agreement to settle a federal lawsuit, the government said.
 |
AP |
The change could save those who buy or sell a home thousands of dollars since commissions could drop as much as 1 percent of the selling price, said Deborah Garza, the deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, in a telephone briefing with reporters.
The settlement will lead to "more choice, better service and lower commission rates," Garza added.
Essentially the deal requires the 800 multiple listings services associated with the National Association of Realtors for various local markets to give access to Internet-based competitors, the government said.
The real estate group did not acknowledge wrongdoing in the settlement, which it described as a "win" for both consumers and agents.
"We think it's great," said Lucien Salvant, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. "There was no evidence ever brought by the Department of Justice that there was a problem." The government sued the real estate group in 2005, accusing it of adopting policies that allowed member brokers to withhold their home listings from online competitors.
The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Chicago in July.
The settlement also requires the group to offer training on complying with antitrust law.
The National Association of Realtors has more than 1.2 million residential real estate members throughout the United States.
In almost every area of the country, brokers have organized multiple listings services to share information about homes for sale.
Print
Email
- Do free market libertarians really believe what they say about ethics and shareholder value? The Big Money takes a look.
- Cramer did the research and found eight stocks that lead the pack. Read on to get his top picks.
- On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, many in the former Eastern Bloc recall communism fondly.
- Software, biotech firms, even banks are watching a particular Supreme Court argument today.
- From politicians to CEOs to companies, here's your chance to vote for the winners and losers of 2009.
- A new sinister Internet viruses can turn you into an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes