{"id":908,"date":"2007-01-16T23:58:55","date_gmt":"2007-01-17T06:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=908"},"modified":"2007-01-24T14:52:35","modified_gmt":"2007-01-24T21:52:35","slug":"nar-doj-russ-russell-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/908\/nar-doj-russ-russell-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NAR & DOJ – Russ & Russell Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russ Cofano<\/a> responded:<\/p>\n

Russell,<\/em><\/p>\n

I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you on this subject. <\/em><\/p>\n

First, my comments should not be taken to mean that I support the DOJ’s position and hope that they win. Nor do I necessarily support the NAR position with its rulemaking. As I have said before, I do support innovation and think that brokers need to spend more time finding new ways to deliver value to consumers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Second, let’s define a couple of terms.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Broker” means any person or firm that has been licensed as a real estate broker under applicable state law.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Traditional Broker” means a Broker who either directly or through agents, actually assists buyers and seller with buying or selling a home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Third, this is a VERY long post and I apologize in advance as I usually don’t like posts of this length. Proceed with caution and a good cup of coffee…. \")\" <\/em><\/p>\n

Regarding the definition of MLS Participant, you said: <\/em><\/p>\n

“And that is the most logical definition possible under the circumstances. It is important to keep in mind what the MLS actually IS – a communication system set up by brokers for offering and accepting offers of compensation…..to fail to define a real estate broker (the only people ever originally intended to have access to the MLS) any other way than someone who is actively working with buyers and sellers makes no sense.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is the problem from the DOJ’s perspective. Before this rule change, a licensed Broker could join the MLS and open up a store front with no intent of helping a seller sell or a buyer buy. They could call it “Referral Realty” and have full access to the MLS database for purposes of cultivating potential buyers to refer on to “traditional” brokers in exchange for a referral fee. This is allowed by most state license laws. In fact, this type of situation occurs today in some areas where retiring licensee hang their licenses with a Broker in hopes of leveraging their referral base despite having no intent to actually assist a buyer or seller. The problem with this business model is that the referral business Read more<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russ Cofano responded: Russell, I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you on this subject. First, my comments should not be taken to mean that I support the DOJ’s position and hope that they win. Nor do I necessarily support the NAR position with its rulemaking. As I have said before, I do support innovation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,6,5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-enduring-interest","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-realty-reality","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/896\/nar-doj-russ-russell-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":0},"title":"NAR & DOJ – Russ & Russell Part 1","author":"Russell Shaw","date":"January 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Russ Cofano responded: Hi Russell, Happy to add some background here. You ask, \"But aren't the \"anti-competitive policies\" basically who has the right to decide how and where listings will be displayed?\" Kinda. The initial DOJ complaint against NAR revolved around NAR's initial Virtual Office Website (VOW) policy that allowed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1253,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1253\/ask-the-broker-asks-the-audience-what-do-you-use-for-a-listing-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":1},"title":"Ask the Broker asks the audience: What do you use for a listing system?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Another wide-open Ask the Broker question came in over the transom:Very rewarding and refreshing to listen to Russell Shaw. Wow, I wish I lived nearby. I'd love to see Russ live in April. Having said that, I heard Russell say listing homes is my future. It really sank in. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":890,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/890\/russ-russell-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":2},"title":"Russ & Russell?","author":"Russell Shaw","date":"January 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to this post, Russ Cofano (of Rain City Guide fame) wrote: \"For a division of the United States government to allege some sort of Realtor price fixing in an industry that is so overloaded (sic) with competition that it almost defies belief IS breading hate and contempt.\" In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":647,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/647\/new-nar-policy-allows-objective-exclusion-of-certain-listings-from-members-presentations-of-idx-feeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":3},"title":"New NAR policy allows “objective” exclusion of certain listings from members’ presentations of IDX feeds . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the news from NARdiGras -- from RealEstateJournal.com:A revised policy approved by the National Association of Realtors this week may make it harder for discount brokers to draw attention to homes they list for sale. The policy, approved by directors of the trade group at a convention in New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2057,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2057\/dont-live-in-fear-of-the-nar-or-your-broker-disintermediate-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":4},"title":"Don’t live in fear of the NAR or your broker — disintermediate them!","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The stakes are high, as Brian has pointed out. You yourself have been smart enough to build a Web 2.0 marketing strategy, but now you're faced with the possibility that your broker, with or without the help of the brokers' cartel, the National Association of Realtors, may try to take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2179,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2179\/a-consumers-guide-to-the-divorced-real-estate-commission-why-buyers-and-sellers-each-paying-for-their-own-representation-is-the-most-significant-reform-that-can-be-made-today-in-residential-real-estat\/","url_meta":{"origin":908,"position":5},"title":"A consumer’s guide to the divorced real estate commission: Why buyers and sellers each paying for their own representation is the most significant reform that can be made today in residential real estate","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Part I: How we got into this mess in the first place Can we be straight with each other? I'm not a soft and subtle kind of guy, and my working assumption is that you are sick to death of being hustled -- handled -- lied to. We yammer all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}