The nearly $1.8 billion jury verdict in a home seller\u2019s class action lawsuit in Missouri against the National Association of Realtors and large brokerage franchisors has consumers and brokers in Washington state asking questions about residential real estate brokerage. The jury found that the defendants conspired to artificially inflate commissions paid to real estate brokers based on a mandatory National Association of Realtors\u2019 rule that requires the seller, via the listing broker, to offer compensation to the buyer\u2019s broker.<\/p>\n
I am quoting directly from a Press Release issued by NWMLS in this post. The press release spells out how we go to great lengths to serve our clients, both buyers and sellers.<\/p>\n
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Since 2019, Northwest MLS (NWMLS) has spearheaded initiatives that afford buyers and sellers more information about broker compensation in their transactions and clear opportunities to negotiate their broker\u2019s compensation. Those initiatives also serve to promote innovation and competition among brokers.<\/p>\n
NWMLS, which serves the vast majority of Washington state, including the greater Puget Sound region, is owned by its member real estate firms and is not affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. Unlike other MLSs, NWMLS\u2019s system provides buyers and sellers with choice, negotiation opportunities, and transparency of broker compensation.<\/p>\n
In 2019, NWMLS eliminated the requirement imposed by other MLSs that a seller, via the listing broker, offer compensation to the buyer\u2019s broker. At the same time, NWMLS was the country’s first listing service to publish the compensation offered to the buyer\u2019s broker. These changes were NWMLS\u2019s first steps toward providing buyers and sellers with increased understanding, choice and control of how they compensate their real estate broker.<\/p>\n
In 2022, NWMLS again led the industry by providing more transparency and flexibility for buyers, sellers, and brokers. The most notable changes included:<\/p>\n
\u25cf \u00a0\u201cDe-coupling\u201d broker compensation, meaning that any compensation the seller chooses to offer the buyer broker is set and paid by the seller \u2014 not the listing broker; and<\/p>\n
\u25cf \u00a0Any compensation the seller offers to the buyer broker is prominently stated on the first page of the purchase and sale agreement, with an opportunity for the compensation to be accepted by the buyer and the buyer\u2019s broker or separately negotiated by the parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The new law will require brokers to enter into a written services agreement representing either a buyer or a seller. All agreements must comprehensively address the broker\u2019s compensation, the scope of representation and all related terms. With the revised Agency Law and NWMLS\u2019s system, buyers will agree on how much to pay their own brokers, and buyers can then negotiate for the seller to help cover that cost as part of the purchase.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the changes that Northwest MLS and its members have made, sellers and buyers are, with ever-increasing frequency, availing themselves of the opportunity to negotiate compensation with their brokers,\u201d said Justin Haag, NWMLS general counsel. \u201cThe upcoming revisions to the Agency Law will enhance these efforts by requiring compensation be negotiated by the parties as soon as the broker begins to provide services to a buyer or seller and also serve to promote innovation and competition further.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Northwest MLS is arguably the best MLS in the country. The nearly $1.8 billion jury verdict in a home seller\u2019s class action lawsuit in Missouri against the National Association of Realtors and large brokerage franchisors has consumers and brokers in Washington state asking questions about residential real estate brokerage. The jury found that the defendants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-footer-blog","category-real-estate-info"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zentricstudio.smtgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}