Real Estate Battle Escalates on
Listings
PHOENIX (By J. Craig Anderson,
Arizona Republic) December 28, 2008 —
The National Association of Realtors has
been dueling with the do-it-yourself
real-estate listing service
ForSaleByOwner.com in recent weeks over
the impact of a six-month-old U.S.
Department of Justice settlement.
Its weapon of choice: news releases.
ForSaleByOwner.com claims in one news
release that the May 29 ruling against
the Realtors association forces the
group's online affiliate Realtor .com to
accept the other Web-based company's
customer listings even though they lack
representation by a broker.
Not true, says a National Association of
Realtors news release. Yes, true, says a
ForSale ByOwner.com news release. "The
DOJ-NAR settlement benefited consumers
by giving them access to Realtor.com
without the expensive cost of a
commission fee," ForSale ByOwner.com
Vice President Greg Healy is quoted as
saying in a Nov. 12 news release. The
Realtors followed up with a release
containing a list of corrections to
"inaccuracies and misleading statements"
it said the online-listing site made.
"ForSaleByOwner.com does not in any way
enable home sellers to advertise their
home on Realtor.com without broker
representation," a Nov. 14 release says.
ForSaleByOwner.com fired back on Nov. 25
with a statement that it "stands by the
accuracy of our news release." The
company has a Web page explaining how
its customers can have their listings
posted on Realtor.com for a $200 fee.
The Justice Department settlement with
the National Association of Realtors
stems from an investigation into unequal
treatment of online real-estate brokers
on the part of the association and its
affiliated multiple-listing services.
The association agreed to treat Web-only
brokers the same way it treats brokers
with brick-and-mortar offices. The
settlement doesn't mention
ForSaleByOwner.com or anything about
whether Realtor .com must list
owner-represented properties.
