Y’all should watch this Sunday’s 60 Minutes CBS News show (May 13, 7pm EDT) about the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and its campaign to crush internet-based business models that discount commissions. My colleague Steve DelBianco appears in the piece, based on his role at eRealty.com, a startup that was thwarted by new rules at NAR.
You’ll be glad to know that Steve doesn’t call for any regulation — just exhorts the Realtors to avoid regulation and litigation by allowing more innovation and price competition in their own ranks.
The show airs at an eventful time for the real estate industry. Earlier this week, the FTC released a report that assessed how the real estate brokerage industry has lobbied for regulation in the name of consumer protection, but has the effect of competition prevention. The report calls for a repeal of real estate laws, rules and regulations that limit choices for consumers, limit competition for new brokerage models and don’t appear to provide any justifiable benefits for consumers. In this report, Steve is quoted multiple times
Finally, the Realtors are holding their mid-year convention next week here in Washington. Add the DoJ antitrust lawsuit against NAR and you have a perfect storm over barriers to e-commerce in the real estate space.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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