Could we be witnessing the biggest lawsuit in American real estate? Moehrl v. NAR has officially turned into a class-action lawsuit, which could have major repercussions on how commissions are earned and paid. It could also mean the country’s largest organization for REALTORS could be in some serious financial trouble should the plaintiffs win their case. This episode of Industry Relations dives into the history of this lawsuit and what potential outcomes could be. Let’s go!
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Thank was fun. I’m the contrarian to the majority that feel this is a done deal and the defendants will lose. The reallity is that no one knows for sure. But there is a lot of extreme guessing.
I can’t know what is on in real estate MLS and AOR organizations, but in Southern California organizations, there is definitely preperation going on.
I made the following commentary on Linkedin. Provoing conspiracy in my eyes won’t be easy. The Fusion will need to show substantial evidence that proves “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the defendant knowingly participated in a conspiracy with others. There other angle of commisson doesn’t age well which you and Rob discussed in terms of compression.
From Linkedin post:
Well, let’s take the Moehrl case. The complaint by my count, mentions the word “conspiracy” 34 times and the “co-conspirators” 18 times. I’m not an attorney but it seems to me that it will not be easy to prove conspiracy up and down the line. In paragraph 7 of the introduction, it states that other countries have different buyer commission structures. That’s the way those countries do it, we don’t have to do it that way. That’s a rather odd argument. Paragraphs 8, 9, and 10 mention the diminishing role have a buyers agent and conspiracy to inflate commissions. The argument is that a buyer’s agent role is diminished because of online portal searches. I can tell you for certain especially within the last two years that a buyer’s agent role and the work exerted have not diminished. Those paragraphs continue to argue that “conspiracy” is keeping buyer agent commissions at 2 1/2 to 3%. I can tell you that in this region of the country that is becoming less the case. I’m not an attorney, but again, I believe that it will be more difficult to prove conspiracy than others think.