NAR and DOJ Settle.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have just settled a drawn out and expensive legal battle.  The result isn’t what’s news worthy.  The reason being is that is was pretty much a big waste of money.

The lawsuit brought by the DOJ was initially done so to force the NAR to allow greater access of listing content on the internet.  They somehow thought the NAR was limiting competition by withholding listing data from “Online” brokers.  Well as things have it, competition and technology kind of worked out the problems before the court system and the litigators could get their arms around this baby.

The bottom line is what was being fought for by the DOJ would have been accomplished without the pricey litigation.  Their premise of needing more competition in Real Estate is faulty.  It is certainly one of the more competitive industries, trust me I know!

On the other side, the NAR, of which I’m a member, isn’t always the most forward thinking, and should probably be monitored a bit.  They have in the past tried to keep information under lock and key (ie MLS systems) but now that information is widely available to the everyone.  The reason isn’t because of forced litigation, but rather the members of the NAR have demanded it for the benefit of their clients.  The market place is a very efficient in the real estate world!   

Anyway, the lawsuit is over, the attorney fees have stopped (I hope) and I’ll continue with business as usual.

Here are some great comments about this issue if you would like to read some other points of view.  Make sure and read the comments as that is where the real value lies.   http://agentgenius.com/?p=2005