Housing Wire

MAY 21, 2024

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs will soon release a circular that “bridges the gap” on an agency law that prohibits a VA buyer from paying their real estate agent compensation, a VA official announced on Tuesday. NAR has also advocated for the VA to change its rule around buyer broker compensation.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2024

Buyer agent fees have historically been fees customarily paid by the property seller or property seller’s real estate agent, and, as such, they are currently excluded from these financing concession limits,” according to the statement from Freddie Mac. Next, we hope Fannie will provide a similar framework for buyers.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

“We’re excited to introduce a new level of service for second-home buyers and their agents,” Karlinski, a Compass agent in Aspen, Colorado , said in a statement. “Suddenly, people were buying homes in unexpected places, and younger buyers started thinking about vacation properties much earlier than ever before.

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Agents Marketing Luxury Properties Real Estate 370

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

After the company failed to have new council file an appearance, the court dismissed EasyKnocks defamation lawsuit against law firm Feldman & Feldman last Monday. According to Feldman & Feldman, EasyKnocks defamation suit forced the law firm to withdraw from the truth in lending suits it was involved in.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2023

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The second week of the Sitzer/Burnett class-action buyer broker commission antitrust lawsuit kicked off with a bang. A judgment as a matter of law is permissible if there is no legally sufficient basis for a reasonable jury to find for the nonmoving party (in this instance, the plaintiffs) on the issue.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

Based on NAR’s settlement, agents working with buyers will need a signed buyer representation agreement starting in mid-July, pending final court approval of the settlement. Bills Clarke said this is exactly how agents already work with sellers, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to implement buyer agreements into a business. “We

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 28, 2025

property rights are established under state rather than federal law, making the shift to a centralized, national land registration system unworkable without a significant rewrite of private property law. Title insurance policies solve these problems by protecting buyers against legal challenges to their ownership.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 2, 2025

” Over the past 12 months, Roam has grown by 500% and registered 200,000 buyers looking for a more affordable way to buy a house. Assumable mortgages let buyers take over a sellers loan, with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Affairs (VA) loans about one-third of all U.S. mortgages eligible by law.

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Housing Wire

JULY 1, 2024

In its statement of interest, the DOJ claims that the changes MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN) proposed for its commission rule “still gives sellers and their listing brokers a role in setting compensation for buyers’ brokers. … When sellers make such offers, buyer brokers need not compete on price to attract buyers.’”

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Defendants in the Sitzer/Burnett class action lawsuit, which deals with buyer brokers’ commissions, are facing two fewer claims. On Monday, plaintiffs in the Sitzer/Burnett suit filed an unopposed motion for dismissal of the state law claims pled in their third amended complaint. Bough, a U.S.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

In contrast, first-time buyers accounted for only 44% of the market, down from 50% in 2023. “Despite affordability challenges, Black first-time home buyers are demonstrating a strong commitment to homeownership , a key driver of generational wealth,” Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy said in a statement.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

As brokerages across the country have begun implementing buyer agency contracts into their business practices in the wake of the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit verdict, the Consumer Federation of America is warning consumers that they may be filled with “unfair provisions” that primarily protect agents and brokers.

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Housing Wire

JULY 5, 2024

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this week detailed its reasons for opposing a bill in the state of Florida designed “to expand projects eligible for residential Property Assessed Clean Energy ( PACE ) financing,” which was recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

These anti-discrimination statutes make it illegal to refuse to rent, sell or lease housing because of a lawful source of income being provided. An accessible checklist on the FHA website would give home sellers, buyers, housing counselors, real estate agents and others a reliable source of information, according to the report.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 26, 2023

During plaintiff lead attorney Michael Ketchmark’s cross examination of Warner, he presented her with some statistics showing that HomeServices affiliated agents in four Missouri markets paid buyer broker commissions of roughly 3% in at least 88% of the transactions completed between 2015 and 2022. It is human nature,” Frazier said.

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

According to court documents filed on Monday, RE/MAX and the home sellers suing the firm in both the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett cases, which both deal with buyer brokers’ commissions, have reached a preliminary settlement agreement, settling all claims in both suits.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 25, 2024

A report released Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that the California Association of Realtors’ (CAR) buyer representation and broker compensation agreement is “virtually unreadable.” The eXp contract is written with the buyer in mind. This requirement goes into effect Aug.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 30, 2024

As a salve, a vocal minority of activists say that “simply” allowing the financing of buyer-agent commissions into mortgages will resolve all concerns. For reasons both practical and legal, buyer-agent commissions are not today explicitly financeable with a mortgage. Under the settlement, sellers can still compensate the buyer’s agent.

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Finance Buyers Agents Insurance 448

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Real estate agents and real estate brokers are both licensed real estate professionals who can assist buyers and sellers, but you should be aware of some key differences and state-specific distinctions. A real estate agent is a licensed professional who represents buyers or sellers in real estate transactions. Let’s dive in!

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Real Estate Real Estate Agent Agents Brokerage 448

Housing Wire

AUGUST 1, 2024

When it comes to handling compensation eXp Realty is not mincing its words — it is not sharing its listing fee with the buyer’s broker. However, the firm says this does not mean it is unwilling to work with buyer’s brokers. But it will be their sellers who make the decision on an offer of compensation to a buyer broker.

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Sellers Buyers Agents Law 448

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The median buyer is now 56 years old, up from 49 in 2023. Existing homeowners, leveraging their home equity, can make substantial down payments, giving them a significant edge over first-time buyers who must borrow more at todays higher interest rates. According to a recent NAR survey, homebuyers are older than they used to be.

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Housing Market Marketing Buyers Real Estate 397

Housing Wire

JANUARY 21, 2025

In its original settlement, MLS PIN agreed to pay $3 million into a settlement fund, as well as business practice changes that include an end to the requirement for mandatory offers of buyer broker compensation in order to list a property on the MLS. Despite Judge Patti B.

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Sellers Buyers Realtors Law 370

Housing Wire

AUGUST 29, 2024

Many state Realtor associations’ new forms —such as buyer representation agreements—are largely incomprehensible to the average homebuyer or seller and have language that seeks to avoid the terms of the National Association of Realtors ‘ (NAR) nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement , according to a report released earlier this month.

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Buyers Realtors Agents Sellers 448

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 9, 2024

The company closed deals with struggling power buyer firm Ribbon in May 2023, home maintenance company Onder in September 2023, home equity investment firm Balance Homes in December 2023 and home equity investment firm HomePace in May 2024. This followed a $57 million Series C round in February 2022. In 2018, the company raised $3.5

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

million settlement with plaintiffs in two bombshell buyer commission lawsuits have been made public, and they stipulate that the brokerage conglomerate make significant changes to its practices. The terms of Anywhere Real Estate ‘s $83.5

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Buyers Brokerage Agents Sellers 459

Housing Wire

MARCH 3, 2025

Marx Stercow, the managing attorney at Sterbcow Law Group , agrees that agents and brokers need to be mindful of what they tell consumers about private listing networks. Jerrold Bregman, a partner at BG Law , shares a similar view. And these brokers dont trust NAR that much anymore.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

When the Department of Justice (DOJ) came out in opposition of buyer representation agreements as they are defined in the National Association of Realtors (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement, Alabama Association of Realtors took notice. So far, the bill is faring pretty well, as it passed the house in a vote on Thursday.

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Realtors Law Buyers Contracts 205

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Lease-purchase arrangements are receiving renewed attention from legislators looking for ways to make homeownership more accessible, and theyre a great way to help buyers who cant qualify for a traditional mortgage or pony up the money needed for a down payment. But that doesnt mean there arent risks involved for potential purchasers.

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Landlords Tenants Contracts Law 221

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Three researchers believe a first-of-its-kind dataset has enabled them to definitively answer a long-debated question: why have buyer agent commission rates been so stable historically? So how is the uniformity and permanence of buyer agents’ 2-3% rate possible in a free market? One of the researchers, Will Fried, had a hunch.

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Clients Agents Buyers Sellers 459

Lamacchia Realty

JANUARY 10, 2025

New Massachusetts Law Addresses Home Inspection Waivers: What Buyers and Sellers Should Know A new law passed by the Massachusetts Legislature will soon regulate buyers and sellers options around conducting a home inspection when purchasing a home.

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Inspection Law Sellers Buyers 69

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

During the closing process, more than 1 in 4 (26%) of buyers and sellers said they received shady or deceptive messages. Victims who are unsure of who to turn to ask for assistance from anyone in their immediate vicinity, including their bank, title firm, lawyer, or law enforcement. But hold on, wait a minute.

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Real Estate Real Estate Agent Sellers Agents 363

Housing Wire

APRIL 1, 2025

Conversation then moved to MLS PINs insistence on maintaining sellers ability to make offers of compensation to buyers brokers through the MLS if they so choose, unlike MLSs affiliated with Realtor associations, which have removed offers of compensation from the MLS due to provisions in the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement.

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Sellers Real Estate Buyers Realtors 266

Inman

MARCH 24, 2025

Alabama Association of Realtors CEO Jeremy Walker said the association was in favor of buyer-broker agreements in general, but felt that requiring one for a home tour put buyers under unnecessary duress, and that the new law would be in the consumer's best interest.

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Law Buyers Contracts Realtors 148

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

While mortgage rates have been trending lower, rates are still higher than 12 months ago, but some experts anticipate that the downward pressure on rates will provide opportunities for buyers. For the buyer of a median-priced home, these lower prices translate into a $9,800 savings on a 20% down payment.

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Buyers Mortgage Landlords Law 418

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

My first inclination was to go to my father-in-law’s house because he lived closer to Malibu, and I thought we’d just bring him to our house. One thing I’m starting to see with buyers is that I think that there will be a boom south of Sunset, which is away from the hills.

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Realtors Design Agents Development 364

Housing Wire

MARCH 31, 2025

“The Court correctly applied the law and properly denied the Gibson plaintiffs motion to intervene and/or transfer,” Bryan Knight, the plaintiffs’ attorney in the Hooper case, said in an email to HousingWire. The cases accuse NAR and brokerages of artificially inflating commissions for buyer agents.

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Brokerage Real Estate Realtors Law 328

Housing Wire

AUGUST 8, 2024

The suit, which is named after its plaintiff Scott Davis, was filed in late May in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Davis by attorneys at Korein Tillery LLC , the same law firm representing the plaintiffs in the Batton suits. All other state law claims must therefore be dismissed.” Illinois, 431 U.S.

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Law Real Estate Realtors Buyers 445