The massive trade group pledged in March to make a variety of policy changes as part of the landmark settlement. Now, the rollout of these rules will be slightly later than expected.
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The National Association of Realtors on Friday outlined various policy changes that will result from its landmark commission lawsuit settlement, revealing that they will take effect in August.
NAR posted a 57-page document detailing all policy changes on its website. Notably, the document begins with an executive summary indicating that the changes “have been approved by the NAR leadership team and will be effective August 17.”
The August date may surprise some observers; the policy changes promised by the NAR, which comes after the NAR agreed in March to resolve various commission lawsuits led by home sellers, are expected to be officially rolled out in July.
The new date pushes back the deadline. This is also the first class notice issued since the settlement received preliminary approval on April 24.
NAR’s new document also outlines specific policy changes that will take effect. Among other things, the changes prohibit listing agents from providing compensation to buyer’s agents in the MLS. The document further states that MLS must also eliminate areas of its technology platform that offer such offers, noting that MLS also cannot create other mechanisms for its members to offer such offers.
The filing also explains that the new rules “prohibit the use of MLS data or data sources to directly or indirectly establish or maintain a platform through which multiple brokers or other buyer representatives provide compensation.” Such a rule could mean, for example, a consumer-facing portal Websites cannot step in and fill the role that the MLS once had by displaying buyer’s agent compensation offers from sellers or their agents. Doing so would “result the MLS in terminating participant’s access to any MLS data and data sources,” the document added.
The document also defines the term “collaboration” in relation to MLS participation, notes the need for compensation disclosures between consumers and their agents, and reiterates the need for buyers to sign an agreement with an agent before viewing a home.
While various policy changes resulting from the settlement have been announced and clarified, the new document shows specifically how and where NAR’s governing language has been updated to reflect these changes. Because the document is lengthy, Inman will continue to analyze it and report more details in the coming days.
At the same time, some uncertainty remains. While NAR expressed confidence in its settlement, which will also pay $418 million, the DOJ also said it wanted to see bigger changes. So the Justice Department now serves as something of a wildcard that could ultimately mean different or larger policy changes in the future as well.
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