On July 1, 2021, DOJ (Department of Justice) announced it was withdrawing from the proposed settlement NAR and DOJ agreed to in November 2020 regarding antitrust accusations and the MLS.
The agreement last November was the impetus for proposed Code of Ethics changes to Standard of Practice 12.1 and MLS rule changes earlier this year. The agreement led to the public having more information about commissions and MLS participation. It was agreed that publicly accessible MLS feeds would provide offers of compensation and buyer’s agents would actively provide that information to their clients.
It also confirmed industry practice of providing buyers with information on all the properties meeting their criteria regardless of compensation or the listing brokerage.
The agreement also included the making of a rule that buyer’s agents cannot claim their services are free. As part of the agreement, sellers may approve all real estate agents have access to a lockbox for MLS listed properties, even if the agent does not belong to the MLS.
NAR did not admit liability, wrong doing or the truth of the DOJ accusations.
In the July 1st DOJ statement, the department states the November 2020 agreement did not “sufficiently protect the Antitrust Division’s ability to pursue future claims against NAR”.