FTC Finds Multi-state Listing Service Has Violated Section 5

Reversing an ALJ’s dismissal of the administrative complaint, the FTC has held that a Michigan real estate multi-listing service violated Section 5 by discriminating against low-cost listings in two ways.  First, the service did not transmit low cost listings to publicly accessible websites such as Realtor.com.  Second, the MLS’s own search mechanism defaulted to full price listings and included low-cost listings only on a separate “other listings” section that had to be separately accessed.  The FTC found that these rules were the product of unlawful agreement among realtors to discriminate against those realtors who refused to adhere to an agreement to charge full commissions.

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