NAR LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT UPDATE

Taken, in part, from IAR's Recent notice to members

NAR announced a proposed national settlement on the Burnett class-action commission case – a settlement that resolves claims against individual REALTORS®, all state and local REALTOR® associations and affiliated MLSs and all, but the very largest corporate brokerages, while slashing monetary damages by more than 90%.

That’s the good news. The settlement also requires changes to how REALTORS® do business and how buyer brokers are compensated. Here are two central features of the agreement – keeping in mind that these terms must be approved by the court and we will have time for implementing the changes.

NAR has agreed to prohibit offers of compensation through the MLS, effective mid-July 2024; offers of compensation can still be agreed upon outside the MLS – more updates will be available once the agreement is approved by the courts.

The agreement includes a new requirement for written buyer agency agreements for MLS participants. Note; Indiana Governor recently signed a new law that requires written Buyer Broker Agreements effective July 1st!

The NAR press r elease provides additional information on the proposed settlement.

This settlement brings some measure of certainty and a path forward for the industry. Indiana REALTORS® are in a strong position to adapt and succeed in this new reality. Here’s why:

Thanks to a strong push by the IAR Government Affairs team and the advocacy of hundreds of REALTORS® at the Statehouse this session, Governor Holcomb signed a state-level requirement for written buyer agency agreements into Indiana law recently.
This is great news because it means one of the main demands of this settlement has already been met in Indiana.
It also means all real estate licensees working with homebuyers will be governed by the same law on buyer agency agreements, while REALTORS® have the benefit of educational resources and a consistent model – the IAR Exclusive Buyer Agency Contract that has been available to members and revised as circumstances merit for more than twenty years.
IAR has been communicating for months about the benefits of securing written buyer agreements and how they allow buyers to negotiate buyer broker compensation with sellers outside the MLS, as a term of the purchase agreement.
Indiana REALTORS® are armed with the most up-to-date information to seamlessly serve clients, and to explain the benefits of professional representation protected by contract to homebuyers, and the options for paying buyer broker compensation without MLS offers of compensation.

The new state requirement for consistent buyer & listing agreements takes effect on July 1st.

Background from IAR General Counsel Richelle Cohen Mossler on buyer agency agreements, broker compensation and Indiana's new written buyer agreement requirement:

Buyer Agency Agreements and Broker Compensation

Previewing Indiana's Buyer Agreement Requirement

ELKHART COUNTY BOARD OF REALTORS® 57225 Alpha Drive Goshen, IN 46528

(574) 875-3283 https://www.ecbor.com

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