The plaintiffs say they shouldn’t have to join NAR and other associations to access the MLS, especially if buyer-broker compensation is no longer guaranteed.
The National Association of Realtors is facing a new antitrust lawsuit, but this time it’s coming from within the industry.
As the trade organization wraps up its landmark $418 million commissions settlement, which is moving toward final approval in November, it is being hit with another class action lawsuit from real estate agents in Michigan challenging mandatory membership rules.
Who are the plaintiffs? Three real estate professionals in Southeastern Michigan — Douglas Hardy, Glenn Champion and Dylan Tent — filed suit and will act as the class representatives.
Hardy owns the Signature Sotheby’s International Realty franchise with subsidiaries in Grosse Pointe and Novi, and along with Champion, is the primary broker. Tent is described in the complaint as a “representative of all agents and/or associate brokers” at the firm.
Along with NAR, the complaint names the Michigan Association of Realtors, Grosse Pointe Board of Realtors, Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors, North Oakland County Board of Realtors and Realcomp II as defendants.
Allegations of ‘economic coercion, conspiracy’: The case was filed on Aug. 12 in a Michigan U.S. District Court and challenges the rule that brokers be members of three organizations: NAR, the state association (Michigan Realtors) and one of the local associations listed as defendants in order to access the Multiple Listing Service.
The case also targets RealComp, which provides the MLS software and regulates members’ use of the MLS.
The plaintiffs say the membership rule “is akin to mandating membership in a union or other trade organization depriving members of free choice,” adding that it is “essentially a violation of the Anti-Trust laws, Economic Coercion, Unfair Restraint on Trade and Conspiracy.”
Connection to the NAR settlement: The timing of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs note, was related to NAR’s March settlement. In addition to requiring MLSs to remove offers of compensation from their platforms, NAR “agreed to do away with the guaranteed broker commission,” the plaintiffs state. It was a decision “made largely without any input by … members,” they claim, and “greatly diminished any value” offered by the associations.
They also called out the “significant” member fees required by the associations.
“These changes encourage discrimination among sellers and sellers’ agents which will negatively affect consumers, agents and brokers,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs say they contacted the defendants several times in 2024 requesting access to the MLS without a membership requirement. Realcomp II denied access each time, according to the complaint.
Along with a judgment allowing access to the MLS, plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages to be awarded to the class.