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Description
The National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose member brokers are known as Realtors (member agents are known as Realtor associates), is a North American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.3 million members, including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. NAR also functions as a self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage. The organization is headquartered in Chicago.
Antitrust lawsuits
In 2005, the United States Department of Justice filed a formal complaint against the National Association of Realtors for violating Section 4 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The complaint sought to enjoin the National Association of Realtors "from maintaining or enforcing a policy that restrains competition from brokers who use the Internet to more efficiently and cost effectively serve home sellers and buyers, and from adopting other related anticompetitive rules.
The DOJ challenged NAR's MLS rules that inhibited competition from Internet-based brokers. On November 18, 2008 the Court entered a Final Judgment approving a settlement against NAR. Under the Final Judgment, the NAR agreed to the policies challenged by the United States and replaced those policies with rules that do not discriminate against brokers who use the Internet to provide low-priced brokerage services to consumers.
In 2012, American Home Realty Network, Inc. the operator of NeighborCity filed antitrust counterclaims in response to a pair of copyright lawsuits, alleging that the "copyright lawsuits filed against it by two multiple listing services with financial backing from the National Association of Realtors are part of a concerted effort by NAR to drive the company out of business and eliminate it as a provider of services to real estate brokers." The counter-claims also allege that the copyrights asserted were never properly registered. In the Minnesota case, which recites claims against the NAR but does not directly name the NAR as a counter-defendant, AHRN filed a second amended counterclaim adding Edina Realty and Home Services of America as Counter-Defendants in the antitrust and unfair competition claims. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, which owns real estate brokerage firms in states across the country, including Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, South Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, and California. Earlier in 2012, the mid-Atlantic multiple listing service Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS) and St. Paul, MN-based Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota Inc. (NorthstarMLS) filed copyright claims against NeighborCity. The National Association of Realtors said it would provide financial support for NorthstarMLS and MRIS legal expenses.
