“On Friday, Feb. 2, HomeServices of America filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for a “writ of certiorari,” asking the court to review an August ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirming a lower district court ruling that HomeServices can’t enforce arbitration agreements signed by seller clients of its franchisees because the contracts the sellers signed were not directly with HomeServices.”
Andrea Bramila, Inman News
Interesting angle. Doesn’t really go to the heart of the case, but more that they, (HSofA) shouldn’t be included in the case at all.
“REBNY and its technology vendor Perchwell were the first companies to be certified for implementing full-listing Add/Edit. NYC brokers and their vendors have their own listing interfaces that integrate with REBNY’s Residential Listing Service (RLS).
Companies like RESO members Lofty, RealPlus and RESoft send their brokers’ listings directly into the Add/Edit-equipped RLS. Allowing brokers to use whichever apps or systems work best for them to update RLS data greatly enhances product choice and competition.”
RESO
I’m a bit late to this but, if this can go mainstream it would be huge for the industry.
Watching the Grammy’s last night I caught an ad for Homes.com.
The ad features Lil’ Wayne and Dan Levy with the tag line, “Home Shopping goes back to school” and then the date “2.11.24”, which is the date to the Super Bowl.
There are also two other ads on their YouTube channel. The one above features Dan Levy again and Heidi Gardner riffing on new Homes.com slogans.
The last video appears to have CoStar’s CEO Andy Florance in a cameo board room scene (:15). Both of them teasing the “2.11.24” Super Bowl date.
We are already know that Mr. Florance likes to go big with their promotion, and nothing is bigger than a Super Bowl ad. Should be fun to watch!
“If approved by the court, the settlement means Keller Williams will pay substantially less than it could have to resolve Sitzer | Burnett. On Oct. 31, in a historic verdict, a jury found that Keller Williams, RE/MAX, Anywhere, the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America and two of its subsidiaries, BHH Affiliates and HSF Affiliates, conspired to inflate broker commission rates paid by homesellers. The jury awarded $1.78 billion in damages to a class of approximately 500,000 Missouri homeowners. If that award stands, it would be trebled by law to more than $5.3 billion.
The deals leave NAR, HomeServices of America and two of its subsidiaries, BHH Affiliates and HSF Affiliates, as the remaining defendants in the case.”
I’ve been thinking about this for the last week and a couple things stand out. I guess you could say it was shrewd of KW to see if the case was won before settling (interesting to think of NAR and BHH/HSF through that lens). Hard to say if the settlement would have been lower if they had settled earlier. But $70M feels about right. BHH/HSF are probably talking longer due to their corporate structure.
That would leave NAR standing alone. People who would know tell me that their case for appeal is pretty strong based on upon the documents being filed by NAR. That may be true, but the genie is out of the bottle. More and more of people I meet and hear I’m “in real estate” ask me about being “over-charged” for commissions. I still think settling (and sooner than later) is the right move.
“The deal was supposed to give holders of Remine common stock 3 cents per share in cash and 61 cents of equity in the new company, according to the complaint. But shareholders were not paid directly; instead, their portion of the merger consideration was contributed to an operating fund of a company called RM Rollover Holdings LLC. Spinetto, Remine’s chief operating officer, secretary and director, was given control of the operating fund after the merger, the complaint says. Spinetto was given a new job post-closing and got a management bonus. The information statement said nothing about how many shares of common stock he owned, how much of his equity was rolled into the new company, his salary post-closing or the amount of his bonus, the complaint says. Schacknies — who served as Remine’s president, CEO, chief financial officer and a director at the time of the sale — resigned from his role as CEO when the acquisition took place and got a severance package at closing, the complaint says.”
My thanks to Trackxi for sponsoring this month’s Vendor Alley.
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“Following Hale’s announcement, the HAR board of directors unanimously approved current HAR Executive Vice President René Galvan to succeed Hale as HAR president and CEO in 2026. Galvan has served as a critical member of HAR’s management team since 1996 when he was hired as Director of Business Development. In 1999, Galvan was recruited away as CEO of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale, but he returned to HAR as EVP two years later and has held that post ever since.
Asked about his accomplishments during his tenure at HAR, Galvan said, “I am most proud of building a team of incredible professionals, keeping focused on our mission of helping members achieve success, and working closely with staff and leadership to improve service to members while keeping a watchful eye on expenses resulting in no dues increase during the past 21 years.”
“This journey has been one that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” said Hale. “I could not think of anyone more qualified and driven than René Galvan to lead HAR through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the real estate industry.”
HAR.com
What a journey! 52 years in the arena, fighting the good fight, planning, innovating, leading, teaching, and sharing. Bob’s generosity is unmatched and what he has contributed to this industry can’t be overstated. And what a class act announcing René as his successor at the same time as his retirement.
I know he doesn’t retire till February 2026 but I just want to be the first to say thank you Bob.
“Mr. Umansky said that AREA will offer its members a nationwide database of home listings as an alternative, built from the technology he acquired for his own private listings service. That platform, which they’re calling the National Listing Service, is currently live with limited listings at theNLS.com.
“A centralized database with access to the full scope of listings across the country is better for everyone in the industry, and someone just had to do it,” Mr. Umansky said.
Debra Kamin, New York Times
A good question I would ask the two luxury real estate agents/brokers launching this new endeavor is this: “Will this new entity follow (or match) the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) guidelines?”
“Expressing gratitude for his journey with MARIS, Price said, “I am immensely proud of the accomplishments we have achieved together at MARIS. It has been an honor to lead such a talented team and I am confident in the bright future that lies ahead for the organization. Cameron has earned a well-deserved reputation as an innovator and I can’t think of anyone better suited than he is to lead MARIS into the future.”
MARIS
Nice quote about Cameron from David. David was always a class act. Also great to see Cameron back on the saddle again. Congrats Cameron and Happy Trails to David.
A little birdie told me that Costar CEO, Andy Florance dropped the name of the celebrity spokesperson for Homes.com. The news dropped while Andy was being interviewed by Brad Inman at Inman Connect NYC. And who is it? Dan Levy. I think Dan Levy is a great choice, although I think his father, Eugene Levy, would have been awesome too. There will be other celebrities featured too but it sounds like Dan is the man.
The first commercials start dropping February 11th.
[UPDATE: Clarification, Mr. Florance said there were 4 new actors and Dan Levy one of them and the only one he disclosed.]
