In 2018 the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) organized a panel discussion about the challenges and opportunities to increase competition in the real estate industry through technological innovation.
Participating in the panel were lawyers from NAR, the FTC, and the DOJ, as well as Brian Larson counsel for CMLS. The only non-lawyer in the group was Ben Clark, former broker for eRealty and noted data expert in the real estate industry. It is interesting to hear the broker’s perspective, so we will highlight some of those discussions.
Video of the 90 minute session is available here.
One of the key points from Ben Clark was the need for MLSs to remove any barriers to MLS participants and subscribers receiving access to relevant MLS listing data. This is based on the fact that real estate professionals have the following fiduciary duty under the NAR Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 11-1, “When REALTORS® prepare opinions of real property value or price they must
- be knowledgeable about the type of property being valued;
- have access to the information and resources necessary to formulate an accurate opinion, and
- be familiar with the area where the subject property is located UNLESS lack of any of these is disclosed to the party requesting the opinion in advance.”
You can find some of Ben Clark’s remarks at the following times of the video:
- 5:55 to 8:08;
- 35:40 to 39:50;
- 46:30 to 49:42;
- 1:03:40 to 1:06:50.
There is also a discussion on MLS Copyright at 1:11:25 to 1:14:05
Finally, for an excellent summary of the history of MLS from Brian Larson, go to the video at 27:00 to 32:30
This November marks the expiry date of the Consent Decree in the NAR/DOJ lawsuit 10 years ago. Mark your calendar for June 5, 2018 when the FTC and DOJ will hold a relevant joint Workshop to discuss “What’s New in Residential Real Estate Brokerage Competition” – Click Here
Here is the entire panel discussion from the June 5, 2018 Workshop:
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