Many real estate agents across the state are already altering how they interact with home buyers and sellers in the wake of the surprise decision by the National Association of Realtors to settle pending lawsuits over agent commissions.
Speaking at a Lamacchia Realty conference in Boston Feb. 1, the new president of the National Association of Realtors declared that the traditional rules of agent commissions are “going to change” in the wake of a $1.78 billion lawsuit.
What can agents and brokerages who are worried about pay cuts, job loss or running up against the law do to protect themselves?
Regardless of how the judge rules following last week’s verdict in the “bombshell” commission lawsuits, it’s clear that brokers and agents who are already moving to adapt will likely be the winners.
The most important step that the industry can take across the board is to make buyer-broker agreements mandatory in every transaction. But more may need to be done depending on the case’s final disposition.
Not quite 48 hours after a Missouri jury awarded home-sellers nearly $1.8 billion in damages in an anti-trust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors over real estate agent commission practices, the association’s chief executive is stepping down.
A Missouri jury handed down a verdict Tuesday afternoon that could upend the residential real estate industry and slap its biggest trade group and several major brokerages with at least $1.8 billion in fines.
