Real estate brokerage company
The
Among the policy changes Compass agreed to make, the company will require that its brokerages and their agents clearly disclose to clients that commissions are negotiable and not set by law, and that the services of agents who represent homebuyers are not free. It also agreed to require that its agents who represent homebuyers disclose right away any offer of compensation by the broker representing a seller.
The terms of the settlement must be approved by the court.
Compass follows several big real estate brokerages and the
The central claim put forth in the lawsuits is that the country’s biggest real estate brokerages have been engaging in business practices that unfairly force homeowners to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sell their home.
The plaintiffs argued that home sellers listing a property for sale on real estate industry databases were required to include a compensation offer for an agent representing a buyer. And that not including such “cooperative compensation” offers might lead a buyer's agent to steer their client away from any seller's listing that didn't include such an offer.
Last week, the NAR agreed to pay
NAR also agreed to several policy changes, including prohibiting brokers who list a home for sale on any of the databases affiliated with the NAR from including offers of compensation for a buyer’s agent.
The rule changes, which are set to go into effect in mid-July, represent a major change to the way real estate agents have operated going back to the 1990s. While many housing market watchers say it’s too soon to tell how the policy changes will affect home sales, they could lead to home sellers paying lower commissions for their agent’s services. Buyers, in turn, may have to shoulder more upfront costs when they hire an agent.
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