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Austin, Texas, September 21, 2021 / PRNewswire / – The new innovative primetime programming from NBC News, Top Story with Tom flames, debuted nationally on Monday 20th SeptemberJune with an investigative look at the red-hot housing market and why the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Zillow’s anti-competitive practices cost home buyers and sellers tens of thousands of dollars.
NBC News highlights REX as the real estate company advocating for consumers and tackling large real estate.
The key segment highlighted REX, the only pro-consumer player in the real estate industry to challenge Zillow’s separate account in federal court. The top story is included in the entire segment Tom flames the banner ran: “Zillow accused of undermining salespeople who list themselves.”
National Correspondent for NBC News Vicky Nguyen examines buying a house in Dallas, TX, and the NAR segregation rule, the application of which Zillow approved on its websites in January. Zillow’s segregated ad puts homes sold by legacy realtors in its main feed and locks homes sold by innovative realtors like REX in a “hidden” tab. This hurts consumers as the old houses on Zillow’s main tab have commissions of 5 to 6 percent, while houses buried in the hidden tab have much lower commissions.
“Consumers don’t see these houses. American homebuyers deserve better. American homeowners deserve more choice, ”said Rex General Counsel Michael Toth during the piece.
“I’m not surprised that a little tweak had such a big impact,” said Benjamin Keys, Professor of Real Estate Law at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Zillow’s response to NBC’s inquiry pointed to NAR and “out of date rules required Zillow to change the way lists are displayed.”
NAR pointed back at Zillow and said, “How Zillow lists listings is between Zillow and any multiple listing service.”
NAR continued to misrepresent the facts during the NBC Now interview, saying, “The court says Rex is unlikely to get his way on his lawsuit” September 2nd, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly The lawsuit filed by greenlit REX and, in August, the US Department of Justice filed a motion to correct previous misrepresentations of facts by the National Association of Realtors.
Last week the National Association of Realtors ran a public relations campaign that misled the media about a “lawsuit” against the US Department of Justice. Despite national headlines, the NAR filing was not a lawsuit but a motion to circumvent a state investigation into nearly two dozen investigations into anti-competitive practices, including the segregation rule and potentially illegal antitrust activity.
Michael Toth, Rex General Counsel responded to the comment by Zillow and NAR, “This case is becoming a must for real estate consumers and legal scholars. Consumers and the law are clearly on Rex’s side. So NAR and Zillow point the finger at each other and why is NAR” engaged in misinformation campaigns participate in order to hide his outdated practices. Today, in addition to battling an antitrust challenge from REX, NAR is staring at an unprecedented federal investigation into its business practices. “
Timeline: Rex versus Zillo
- on 9th March, REX, the consumer-friendly digital platform and full-service real estate brokerage, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Zillow, Trulia and the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
- on August 10, the US Department of Justice is filing in the REX / Zillow-NAR Segregation Rule case “to prevent unjustified conclusions from being drawn from a 2008 consent decree that has now expired” and to prevent the National Association of Realtors from “accepting the consent decree of 2008 to use “shield behavior.”
- on September 2nd, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas S. Zilly denied motions by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Zillow to dismiss REX’s antitrust and consumer protection challenge of the NAR segregation rule. The court found that REX sufficiently alleged that NAR and Zillow had conspired to restrict trade and cause harm to consumers, stating, “The plausible has plausibly alleged that Zillow consented to use the MLS rules, to restrict trade ”.
Timeline: Recent action by the Biden administration regarding real estate
- on July 1, the Department of Justice (DOJ) overturned a proposed deal the Trump administration had with NAR. The unprecedented action was in line with REX’s position in a February comment letter calling on the DOJ to step back from the settlement and take further action, including a fuller investigation into the anticompetitive practices of the association and its member companies.
- on July 6th, the DOJ issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to NAR as part of an antitrust investigation into “Residential Real Estate Brokerage in Metropolitan Areas Everywhere” The United States. “
- on July 9th, President Biden’s executive order directed the FTC to tackle real estate competition. This hit the bull’s eye on the broken brokerage practices that REX was supposed to replace.
- on 13.september, NAR challenges the US DOJ CID, making the full scope of the July 6th CID.
About the federal investigation into the Federal Association of Brokers
- the July 6th CID signals an extensive antitrust investigation by the DOJ into over 20 different NAR and MLS guidelines, practices and rules.
- The CID focuses on the mandatory offer of compensation for brokers, an existential threat to NAR.
- The CID targets the NAR separation rule, with significant potential ramifications for Zillow. REX questions Zillow’s acceptance of the segregation rule, and the CID shows a clear interest from the DOJ, while the federal judge gave the go-ahead to investigate the REX case.
The full CID can be read here.
Contact:
Colin Maynard
colin@colinmaynard.net
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SOURCE REX
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