In its latest filing seeking damages, Utah-based discount brokerage Homie alleges that NAR, KW, RE/MAX and others created and enforced rules that constituted an illegal conspiracy.
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Homey, a Utah-based discount brokerage, is a collaboration between the National Association of Realtors and some of the nation’s largest brokers and franchisors to create and enforce illegal rules to increase the number of discount brokerages in the real estate market. competition, it said in a new filing Friday.
This lawsuit is a continuation of Homie’s lawsuit seeking damages from NAR, Anywhere, Keller Williams, HomeServices of America, RE/MAX, HSF Affiliates, and others for allegedly “conspiring” to stifle innovation and boycott low-fee listings. It was carried out during the
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Last month, NAR and the companies denied any collusion in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Utah, pointing out that Homie had steadily grown its business during the alleged conspiracy and would have actually profited from the inflated conspiracy. and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. commission.
Homie said in his response that NAR and his co-defendants created a “weapon” through various rules they created and enforced.
“Having created the weapon and placed the weapon into the hands of members and associates with instructions for use, the defendants are responsible for the consequences of firing the weapon in Utah,” Homey wrote Friday.
Homie targeted the defendants with lawsuits that largely mirrored other cases that led to landmark settlements and fundamental changes in the industry. These include Participation Rules, Buyer-Broker Compensation Rules, Free Services Rules, Fee Hiding Rules, Fee Filter Rules, and Explicit Cooperation Rules.
All but clear cooperation rules have since been abolished, and those rules are now subject to debate.
“Defendants used their control of MLS to promulgate regulations that created substantial barriers to the entry and expansion of new low-cost competitors.”
Utah-based Homey once sought to gain market share as a discount alternative to traditional brokerages. Since then, the company has been in trouble, laying off staff, converting its payroll agency into a contractor and experiencing management turmoil.
“Creating barriers to entry and expansion means that smaller, more aggressive competitors like Homie are ready, willing and able to compete by offering lower prices. “This is particularly problematic when the defendant’s actions have prevented him from doing so,” Homie wrote in the filing. “NAR’s [policies in question] It is an unreasonable trade restriction because it creates a barrier to the entry and expansion of competitors seeking to compete at lower prices. ”
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