Current Events > National Ass'n of Realtors found guilty in $1.8B commission fixing scheme

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https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/economy/national-association-of-realtors-commissions-high/index.html

A Missouri jury on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors, a real estate industry trade group, and some residential brokerages liable for nearly $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high.

The lawsuit covered home sales that took place between April 2015 to June 2022.

We view it as a tremendous day of accountability for these companies, Michael Ketchmark, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN.

Despite the verdict, the matter is still far from being resolved.

This matter is not close to being final. We will appeal the liability finding because we stand by the fact that NAR rules serve the best interests of consumers, support market-driven pricing and advance business competition, NAR president Tracy Kasper said in a statement after the verdict was announced.

However, she said NAR cant speak to the specifics to its basis of appeal until it is filed. In the interim, we will ask the court to reduce the damages awarded by the jury, Kasper added.

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway-owned HomeServices of America and two subsidiaries, as well as Keller Williams Realty, were among the other real estate groups the jury found guilty of conspiring.

A spokesperson from HomeServices told CNN the company is disappointed with the courts ruling and intends to appeal.

Todays decision means that buyers will face even more obstacles in an already challenging real estate market and sellers will have a harder time realizing the value of their homes, the spokesperson said.

Keller Williams did not immediately respond to CNNs request for a comment.

Ketchmark said groups like HomeServices are claiming this because theyre desperate to hang on to the system that they have rigged against everyone.

They made that same argument in court for the last couple of weeks and it took a jury all of two and a half hours to disregard it, he said.

The appeals process could take up to three years, said Jaret Seiberg, a housing policy analyst at TD Cowen. The losing party he said will likely attempt to have the case tried by the Supreme Court.

But Tuesdays verdict does not mean buyer commissions are a thing of the past, he said.

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Everyone is wicked and we're always being screwed. This world... is rotten.

That's quite a bit of money. Now a lot of them losing their jobs over a lack of house sales.

Add a zero or two, extend the payment to all americans and toss in life imprisonment or worse for the assocations leadership.

Real Estate stocks fall on verdict:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YntuJXj3GUk

They be ass'n alright

C_Pain posted...

Everyone is wicked and we're always being screwed. This world... is rotten.

Lol, you're literally a trump supporter.

Mayhaps you shouldn't be clutching pearls about how awful the world is when you're enthusiastically supporting a party actively making it worse.

So how did they do this?
Make homes prices inflated?