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At last week’s National Association of Realtors midyear meeting, leaders of the industry group made clear that despite multibillion-dollar jury verdicts and nine-figure settlements, the NAR and its members are facing significant consequences. Neither commission lawsuit has done anything wrong, and if consumers believe they have done so, there is one major entity to blame: the media.
This sentiment was never more evident than at one of the REALTORS Legislative Assembly’s most popular sessions, the Housing Economic Issues and Trends Forum, which was livestreamed to NAR members on May 7. Lawrence Yun began his speech by praising real estate agents for coming to Washington, D.C., to “participate in democracy” and confront the forces of the media that “slander our profession.”
“[The] wall street journal … said real estate agents have too much political power,” Yun told a banquet hall filled with thousands of attendees.
“Well, if real estate agents don’t have power, then who does? The media. So we either let Americans participate in our democracy or we let the media dictate. Thank you so much for coming to Washington. The crowd applauded and some cheered.
It was unclear who the NAR leader was referring to when he mentioned “the media.” Inman’s analysis of several mainstream media reports on commission lawsuits found that the record’s accuracy varied.
A NAR spokesperson told Inman, “NAR regularly engages with the media to promote our policies, real estate trends, and recently proposed settlements. We will continue to work effectively with the media to provide important information to help buyers and sellers navigate the real estate market.”
The Mid-Year Conference is held annually in the nation’s capital so that real estate agents can lobby members of Congress on issues important to their work. This year, the event attracted 8,000 attendees. NAR claims to be the largest trade group in the United States, with 1.5 million members. The association spends millions of dollars a year on lobbying, making it a powerful political force, and charges its members a special annual assessment of $45 — $74.4 million in 2023 alone — for its expenses or advertising activities.
Burnett and Mohr, the largest antitrust lawsuit filed against the trade group Sitzer| . SITZE | Burnett went to trial in October, but despite spending millions of dollars defending himself, NAR was unable to convince a jury that awarded full damages to some 500,000 home seller plaintiffs who said they Hurt by the industry group’s conspiracy to inflate broker commissions.
During the trial, the home seller plaintiffs who testified made it clear that they were satisfied with the services of the seller’s agent they hired, but they believed it was “unfair” to require the seller to pay the buyer’s agent. NAR’s cooperative compensation rules, also known as participation rules, require listing brokers to compensate buyer’s brokers for submitting listings to multiple listing services affiliated with real estate brokers.
However, in his speech, Yun seemed to conflate the two issues and emphasized that “the media” does not portray reality.
“We all know your past customers were very happy,” Yun told the audience.
“The media has portrayed you in a certain way as overcharging your past clients. But no one complained. Your past clients almost considered you your best friend. They trusted you because of the way you conducted your business. Come on, you never cut corners.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun attends the Legislative Conference of Realtors Forum on Residential Economic Issues and Trends on May 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Yun pulled out a chart showing brokers’ satisfaction scores for home buyers.
“This is one of my favorite charts, considering the lawsuit settlements that have occurred,” Yun said.
Even though “there are two unhappy homeowners in Missouri…this chart shows millions of satisfied homeowners. There’s nothing better than saying “I want to work with the same real estate agent again on my next deal.” Satisfaction rating. I would recommend this realtor to my family, my business colleagues. This is 90% satisfaction. Of course, this is not 100%.
“So even if the media tries to disparage what you do, understand that your customers are very happy with your service. According to this survey we have conducted year after year since the 1980s, they treat you like Like extended family members and truly value you, satisfaction rates are around 90% every year.
To be clear, NAR’s settlement is intended to resolve antitrust claims by home sellers, not home buyers. Multiple cases covered by the settlement also have far more than two named plaintiffs, and cases that have been granted class-action status represent millions of home sellers. So far, nearly 200,000 home sellers have filed claims to recover money from settlements with franchisees in the same case.
Yun also took aim at media reports of a decline in NAR membership in 2023. quit.
“You know how fierce the competition is,” Yun said. “Full service, discounts, iBuyers, if a consumer is not satisfied with a real estate agent, do it yourself. This is always an option you have, or find another real estate agent.
He said that NAR’s membership turnover rate is just like the catering industry and is equally competitive.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s slides from the REALTORS Legislative Conference Housing Economic Issues and Trends Forum in Washington, D.C., May 7, 2024
“In case you have a bad experience, please don’t sue the restaurant and bring a trial lawyer,” Yun said, drawing laughter from attendees.
“You can always go to the next restaurant. In America, consumers have choices. The audience applauded.
Last month, NAR removed decades of membership data from its website without explanation, making it no longer available to members or the public, although the trade group said the data would be available to members again at some point in the future supply.
Yun is not the only NAR leader to complain about the trade group’s news coverage. In at least two meetings, NAR Chairman Kevin Sears accused “the media” of spreading “misinformation” and “half-truths” about the commission’s lawsuit. Speaking at the event’s Agent Idea Exchange Committee forum, Sears said NAR has been posting “multiple times a day.”
Kevin Sears | President, National Association of Real Estate
“We provide data, we provide good stories, but we can’t force the media to publish them,” Sears said.
He said NAR’s new chief communications officer, Suzanne Bouhia, has held “hundreds of meetings with different media outlets to discuss with them what went wrong in an effort to correct the record,” but that the corrections were less impactful than the original headlines.
He referred to NAR’s Media Agency Program, whose members are designated to speak to the media on NAR’s behalf.
“Try not to pay attention to the national media,” Sears said. “For me, what I really care about is local media. We have over 400 real estate agent members across the country who want to be media agents and help tell our stories and connect consumers to the media,” he said. So that they can tell their stories. “
“denies any wrongdoing”
When one attendee asked Sears why anyone would think it was a good idea to eliminate buyer’s agent compensation from the MLS, a requirement of the settlement, Sears didn’t mince words.
“That’s not the case,” Sears said. “It’s so transparent [to have it in the MLS] Our MLS is currently the envy of the world. Plaintiffs’ attorneys did an outstanding job convincing the Missouri jury. This is not good. Too bad it has to change.
NAR’s legal team made similar points throughout the meeting.
“We disagree with the way our practices and rules are presented,” NAR senior legal counsel Matt Troiani told attendees at a meeting of the conference’s Risk Management Issues Committee.
“We deny any wrongdoing and we have always supported and defended compensation programs that we believe are transparent, efficient, effective, pro-competitive and pro-consumer for both sellers and buyers.”
Matt Troiani
Troiani said the settlement achieves two of NAR’s primary goals: to insulate as many NAR members as possible from antitrust claims and to preserve the provision of compensation as a consumer choice.
“We want to make it very clear that we believe in providing compensation,” Troiani said.
“We believe they are fair, efficient, and in the best interests of sellers and buyers. Therefore, we will not waive compensation.
He detailed ways in which a listing broker can promote a comp offer to a buyer’s agent outside of the MLS, including sign riders, marketing materials and the listing broker’s own listing website. Troiani also encourages buyer’s agents to contact the listing agent before showing a property to ask about compensation.
NAR senior adviser Charlie Lee made similar remarks at the trade group’s MLS forum.
Charlie Lee
“NAR continues to deny any wrongdoing related to MLS’ cooperative compensation rules,” Lee said.
“Consumers continue to have the choice to decide what’s best for them when buying or selling a home and be able to work with a real estate professional,” he added.
Johnny Morwad
Johnny Mowad, chairman of the Multiple Listing Issues and Policy Committee, struck a defiant tone as he adjourned the committee meeting, which was held immediately after the MLS forum.
“Listen clearly: Major League Soccer has done nothing wrong,” he said, loudly banging the podium in front of him. “We will continue to focus on serving consumers and the public. Our resolve remains unwavering. Our full support for NAR is strong.
He encouraged attendees to “harness the power of our collective action” and “move forward with us stronger, bolder and more determined than ever before”. Together we will win and shape the future of real estate with unwavering commitment.
NAR issued a legal update during the meeting, which was only available to members in attendance and not to the media. The association initially notified members that the update would be live-streamed so that members not attending could see it, but just before the event began, it was removed from the live meeting. NAR did not respond when asked why.
Send an email to Andrea V. Brambila.
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