NAR will appeal the DOJ investigation to the Supreme Court
This emerged from a court case on Thursday National Association of Real Estate Agents said it will appeal the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Ministry of Justice could reopen its investigation into the trade group.
The decision to appeal to the Supreme Court comes after the appeals court denied NAR’s request for a rehearing in July.
The appeals court decision overturned the ruling of District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, who ruled in January 2023 that the terms of a previous settlement reached by the DOJ and NAR to end the Department’s investigation into the trade group were still valid, and that continuing the investigation would take away the benefits NAR negotiated in the original settlement .
The DOJ appealed the ruling in March 2024 and submitted his application first short early June.
The two sides reached an initial settlement in 2020, ending the DOJ’s investigation into NAR’s listing and compensation policy for agents. The proposed settlement at the time included requirements for NAR to increase transparency about broker commissions and stop misrepresenting that buyer broker services are free. In exchange for NAR’s cooperation, the DOJ said it would close the investigation.
However, the DOJ, under new leadership in the Biden administration, withdrew the settlement in July 2021, stating that the terms of the agreement prevented regulators from continuing to investigate certain association rules that they say harm buyers and sellers.
NAR filed a petition in September 2021 to set aside or modify the DOJ’s investigations into the trade group.
According to the filing, NAR plans to file its writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court by October 10, 2024. Additionally, the filing notes that the DOJ has agreed to “significantly limit the documents it seeks in response to its civil investigative demand.”
In response, the filings indicate that by September 30, 2024, NAR will produce documents related to the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett Commission lawsuits, and other documents related to its Clear Cooperation Policy, including the participation rule at the heart of the Commission lawsuits. , a month later the Supreme Court will rule against NAR or before November 12, 2024, if NAR does not file its writ of certiorari.
In the filings in the Nosalek lawsuit, which the DOJ became involved in in late September 2023, the department has made clear that it does not support cooperative compensation and that it does not want to see offers of buyer broker compensation “anywhere.”
