NAR’s decision on what to do about Clear Cooperation? Nothing – for now

The National Association of Real Estate Agents (NAR) reached a decision during a meeting last week on what to do with its Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP). That decision means we’re not making a decision – at least for now.

The anticlimactic ruling was reached Friday after the trade group’s Advisory Board on MLS Technology and Emerging Issues debated the industry’s tug-of-war over policy. Real estate news was the first to tell the story.

The CCP has sparked fierce debate among both supporters and opponents. The policy, which requires brokers to list properties on NAR-affiliated MLSs within one day of signing a listing agreement, is intended to prevent so-called pocket listings, or properties that are listed off-market and not advertised to the general public .

Denee Evans, CEO of the Council of multiple listing services (CMLS), sent an email to its members and NAR last week to express strong support for the CCP. She said concerns about the policy are “inherently invalid,” adding that none of them “deserve the removal or significant weakening of a policy so critical to the integrity of our housing market.”

Considering that exclusive listings are the lifeblood of an MLS, it’s not surprising that CMLS supports Clear Cooperation. Conversely, it’s not surprising that agents who want to maintain their own exclusive listings resist doing so.

Among the brokers opposing the policy are The Agency And Compass. The CEOs of both companies have been vocal in their opposition, stating that this restricts vendor choice and is therefore anti-competitive in nature.

Looming over the policy is the continued presence of the Ministry of Justice (DOJ) in the real estate industry. The DOJ has taken a particular interest in regulations regarding NAR and MLSs.

While the DOJ and NAR reached a settlement on the issues in 2020, an appeals court allowed the DOJ to withdraw from the settlement. That came shortly after NAR reached a settlement with home sellers over the requirements that blanket compensation offers had to be made to buyer’s agents on the MLS.

In response to the decision of the court of appeal, NAR appealed the ruling to the court Supreme Court. But after the presidential election, a more direct path for NAR could emerge. Although the Biden administration has made antitrust matters a priority for the DOJ, it is somewhere between possible and likely that these concerns would not be pursued by the DOJ under a second Donald Trump administration.

NAR did not immediately respond HousingWire‘s request for comment.