Let us continue with the hope-mongering, looking at the bright side of armageddon (for the real estate industry). This entire series assumes that some combination of civil anti-trust lawsuits and the federal government results in the end of cooperating compensation. There’s already quite a bit of handwringing going on about that prospect, with authors and … Read more
In my consulting work, I often say that strategy is 18-24 months, because things change too fast to make any reasonable plans past that point. It isn’t simply black swan events like the pandemic either; just the pace of technology change is that fast, and if the strategy worked, then the organization should be in … Read more
Obviously, posting has been very light — nonexistent, one might say. Part of the reason was that I was at the Council of MLS (CMLS) conference right here in Las Vegas last week. Well, the truthful way of saying that is to say that I was hanging out in the lobby bar of the Bellagio … Read more
Back in July, I wrote about the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unexpectedly pulling out of the settlement agreement it had reached with NAR and said: The withdrawal, then, combined with the above (voluntary dismissal plus broader investigations) clearly signals that the DOJ will be pursuing other antitrust claims relating to NAR’s rules. Under a stipulation … Read more
One of the lawsuits going on right now, which I’ve discussed in podcasts and such, is REX v. Zillow. I didn’t really write on it before for a variety of reasons, the biggest of which is that I regarded the lawsuit as an unfortunate waste of time for everybody involved. Another reason is that I … Read more
It’s Friday afternoon, and posting has been very light as I’ve been non-stop traveling. But I wanted to get this out because it came up in conversation earlier today with an MLS executive, and thought that many of you probably were wondering the same thing. In light of yet another intervention in a private lawsuit … Read more
I’m busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest… but I wanted to get this post up as the folks over at BrightMLS (Thank you, Rene! Thank you, Elliot!) were kind enough to chat with me on Friday. It will necessarily be short… well… short for me. In case you missed it, BrightMLS recently … Read more
In Part 1, I speculated on the obvious first-order regulations headed our way as an industry, as well as the need for further regulation and enforcement mechanisms that those top-level regulations will create. In particular, I thought that the government (whether FTC or someone else) will need to figure out how to get information and data from the industry and provide oversight:
However I think these things through, I can’t escape the fact that any government regulation of these rules and policies requires if not regulation of the MLS, at least direct oversight of the MLS. At a minimum, it requires data collection and/or reporting from the MLS to whatever enforcement agency to make sure that the rules and regulations are being followed appropriately.
Just like mortgage banks and health insurance companies are required to submit information and reports to regulators, the MLS will have to be required to submit information and reports to regulators. And that’s at a minimum. At the maximum is total government control, a government-operated listings exchange.
The reality, I thought, was somewhere in between minimal reporting requirements and government-operated listing exchanges.
Turns out, there is a model already existing, already successful, and already operating that fits rather perfectly: FINRA, or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. A RINRA, or the Realty Industry Regulatory Authority, would accomplish almost everything the government wants to accomplish, win support from huge segments of the industry, as well as garner support from the think tanks, media, influencers and the various nonprofits that want to see the real estate industry change.
Longtime readers know that I am constantly wondering about, worried about, and in some cases, excited about future regulation of residential real estate. This is already a heavily regulated industry, but until there is some kind of an unexpected libertarian moment in American politics, there could always be more and different regulation. The immediate aftermath … Read more