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☆ Warren Buffett’s Real Estate Brokerage Agrees to $250 Million Settlement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

HomeServices of America, the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States and owned by Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, has agreed to settle a series of lawsuits that could change the way commissions are paid to real estate agents. On Thursday, the brokerage signed off on adding $250 million to the mounting pile of damages won by home sellers who have successfully sued several brokerages and the National Association of Realtors over what they described as inflated commissions. That settlement received preliminary approval from a federal judge on Tuesday, and now N.A.R. will pay $418 million in damages and significantly change its rules on agent commissions and the databases, accessible only by those who hold membership to N.A.R. The settlement will introduce competition to the market for real estate commissions, driving down the fees that consumers are required to pay when selling a home and eventually lowering home prices across the board as a result, some industry analysts say.

Persons: Warren E Organizations: Warren, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, National Association of Realtors, The New York Times, Industry Locations: America, United States

☆ Justice Department Says It Will Reopen Inquiry Into Realtor Trade Group
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department will reopen an antitrust investigation into the National Association of Realtors, an influential trade group that has held sway over the residential real estate industry for decades. The investigation will focus on whether the group’s rules inflate the cost of selling a home. about broker commissions and how real estate listings are marketed. Pending federal court approval, N.A.R. will pay $418 million in damages and will significantly change its rules on agent commissions and the databases, overseen by N.A.R.

Organizations: Department, National Association of Realtors, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia, N.A.R

☆ Could First-Time Home Buyers Lose Out Under New Commission Rules?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Ronda Kaysen | Rukmini Callimachi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With a landmark legal settlement poised to upend a decades-old norm that has dictated who pays real estate agents and how much, economists, agents and lenders are beginning to worry that the burden could now be on first-time home buyers. Buyers may soon have to pay out of pocket for something that had always been baked into the price. “First-time home buyers are usually the people who don’t have much cash and experience — and that experience matters,” said Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist of Redfin, the online brokerage that cut ties with the National Association of Realtors last year. The lawsuit was initially brought by home sellers in Missouri who accused N.A.R. of artificially inflating home prices by coupling commissions paid to sellers’ and buyers’ agents.

Persons: ”, Daryl Fairweather, Buyers, N.A.R Organizations: Redfin, National Association of Realtors Locations: Missouri

☆ What Does the Real Estate Shake-Up Mean for New Yorkers?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-21 | by ( Anna Kodé | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Myriad questions remain — not least, how the settlement will impact U.S. home prices, how sales commissions will be determined, and who will pay them. But in New York City, where the primary real estate trade group is the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), most agents aren’t members of N.A.R. settlement may not directly affect New York City buyers and sellers, its impact is expected to ripple across the nation. settlement “may impact the New York City market,” and that they would be reviewing the N.A.R. settlement “and will provide an analysis to REBNY members shortly.”

Persons: REBNY, ” Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Real, Board, New Locations: New York City, New York

☆ 4 Ways a Settlement Could Change the Housing Industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the early hours of Friday morning, the National Association of Realtors agreed to a global settlement deal that would resolve several lawsuits against the trade group. rule requiring home sellers to pay commissions to their agents and the agents of their buyers led to inflated fees and price fixing. The lawsuit also called into a question another rule requiring agents to list homes on N.A.R.-affiliated databases in order to sell them. With the settlement agreement, N.A.R. will pay $418 million in damages, but more important, it has agreed to rewrite a number of rules that have long been central to the U.S. housing industry.

Persons: N.A.R Organizations: National Association of Realtors, N.A.R Locations: Missouri, N.A.R

☆ Powerful Realtor Group Agrees to Slash Commissions to Settle Lawsuits
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

American homeowners could see a significant drop in the cost of selling their homes after a real estate trade group agreed to a landmark deal that will eliminate a bedrock of the industry, the 6 percent sales commission. The National Association of Realtors, a powerful organization that has set the guidelines for home sales for decades, has agreed to settle a series of lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and by eliminating its rules on commissions. Legal counsel for N.A.R. approved the agreement early Friday morning, and The New York Times obtained a copy of the signed document. “This will blow up the market and would force a new business model,” said Norm Miller, a professor emeritus of real estate at the University of San Diego.

Persons: ”, Norm Miller Organizations: National Association of Realtors, The New York Times, N.A.R, University of San Locations: U.S, University of San Diego

☆ After a Landmark Verdict, Realtors Ask, ‘What’s Next?’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Ronda Kaysen | More About Ronda Kaysen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Similar suits are making their way through the courts, with more filed after the verdict, adding additional pressure on the industry. The ruling “will reshape the housing market," said Ryan Tomasello, a managing director covering real estate technology at the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, affecting “the industry not just from the perspective of the consumer, but from the perspective of real estate brokers and agents.”N.A.R. said it plans to appeal the verdict. Interviews with real estate agents in markets around the country revealed an industry wrestling with its identity and uncertain about the road ahead. Others are convinced that the verdict will result in only modest changes, perhaps a few more disclosure forms atop an endless pile of paperwork.

Persons: brokerages, Ryan Tomasello, Keefe, ” N.A.R Organizations: National Association of Realtors Locations: Missouri

☆ Home Sellers Win $1.8 Billion After Jury Finds Conspiracy Among Realtors
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Debra Kamin | More About Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The realtors’ group and brokerages were ordered to pay damages of nearly $1.8 billion. The verdict allows the court to issue treble damages, which means they could swell to more than $5 billion. rule, a home seller is required to pay commissions to the agent representing the buyer, which sellers claimed forced them to pay excessive fees to the agents. The home sellers said the brokerages collaborated with N.A.R. For example, a home seller with a $1 million home can now pay as much as $60,000 in agent commissions — $30,000 to their agent and $30,000 to the buyers’ agent.

Persons: brokerages Organizations: National Association of Realtors, realtors ’ Locations: United States

The next day, Jason Haber, a real estate agent with Compass, started a Change.org petition demanding that Mr. Parcell resign. “I reached out to representatives for speakers at their upcoming conferences, asking them to withdraw their speaking slots. We were putting a lot of pressure on the organization.”Complaints about Mr. Parcell began to surface after Janelle Brevard, a former employee who said she had had a consensual relationship with Mr. Parcell, sued the group for racial and sexual discrimination and harassment. Ms. Brevard, who is Black, handled the group’s podcasts and videos and much of its marketing materials from 2019 to 2022. She said that after their relationship ended she was excluded from meetings and business trips and that Mr. Parcell, who is white, threatened to have her fired, according to her lawsuit.

Persons: Parcell’s, Jason Haber, Parcell, “, Mr, Haber, Janelle Brevard, Brevard Organizations: Times, Compass Locations: N.A.R

☆ Women Say Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Is Rife in Group for Realtors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Debra Kamin | More About Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Parcell said that he had never made such references or gestures. She also shared photographs that Mr. Parcell sent them of his crotch in April 2022. When asked about the memo by The Times, N.A.R. said it did not contain sexual harassment complaints and described the photographs sent by Mr. Parcell as “of a belt buckle.” The organization said all issues identified in the memo had been investigated and addressed. Mr. Parcell said he was asking for input on the design of a promotional N.A.R.

Persons: Braun, Parcell, it’s, Ms, Jennifer, ”, N.A.R, “ Organizations: Times, The Times Locations: Washington, Chicago, Utah

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