Justice Monitors Real-Estate Industry
Justice monitors real-estate industry
Kenneth R. Harney
Syndicated columnist
The Department of Justice has two blunt warnings for the U.S. home real-estate establishment:
• Do not block efforts to save consumers money through rebates of real-estate commissions.
• Do not stand in the way of discount "fee-for-service" firms that will list sellers' properties for a fixed-dollar amount but not perform all the traditional brokerage services such as holding open houses or advising on buyers' offers.
Ignore that advice, according to Justice, and you will find yourself in big trouble. Lawyers for the department have begun following through on those warnings.
Earlier this month the department sent an unusual message to the Oklahoma Legislature urging it not to pass a state Realtor association-supported bill that effectively would squeeze low-cost fee-for-service real-estate brokers out of the state by redefining the service requirements for holding a brokerage license.
A week earlier, the Justice Department sued the Kentucky Real Estate Commission, a regulatory body dominated by state real-estate association board members, for prohibiting brokers from giving customers rebates on sales commissions.
See article at:****Must participate a while before posting URL's*** />
Comments(0)