What is the DOJ Up To?
The Statement of Interest in the Davis v. Hanna Holdings case is a very curious signal
It is Christmas week, and I thought I would be able to just relax until the final post of the year, which is always my Seven Predictions post. But no, the Department of Justice had other plans:
Today, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in the case of Davis et al. v. Hanna Holdings Inc. The lawsuit, brought by homebuyers, alleges that real-estate brokerages and their trade association, the National Association of Realtors, entered into anticompetitive agreements that inflated broker commissions and raised home prices for Americans. The statement of interest explains that competition among real-estate brokerages is critical for protecting American homebuyers and that trade association rules are subject to antitrust scrutiny in a number of ways.
An eagle-eyed reader (I have the best audience in real estate) sent me word of this filing, so… I spent a Friday afternoon reading it. Instead of, you know, enjoying life. But I suffer so you don’t have to.
Honestly, this case and this statement of interest is likely of no interest to anyone who isn’t a law nerd, an antitrust geek, or… in charge of real estate brokerages, REALTOR Associations, and MLSs… or are involved with investing in the residential real estate space so need to understand what’s going on. So, uh, I guess that’s like 90% of the readers?
So be it; let’s get into this latest and quite unexpected (by me at least) salvo from the DOJ against NAR, the MLS, and all things real estate.
I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice; it is analysis for education and entertainment. Please ask your actual attorney for actual advice.