Redfin
(Redfin Photo)

Seattle-based real estate tech company Redfin is applauding action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday against the National Association of Realtors, in which the DOJ simultaneously filed an antitrust complaint and a proposed settlement with the group over its policies around broker commissions.

According to a DOJ news release, the agency argued that the NAR “established and enforced illegal restraints on the ways realtors compete,” and its settlement proposes that NAR “repeal and modify its rules to provide greater transparency to home buyers about the commissions of brokers representing home buyers.”

Making buyer agent commissions public is a huge win for consumers as far as Redfin is concerned, and the company believes it will usher in a new era of price competition for real estate agents.

“This is big,” CEO Glenn Kelman said as he wrote about the DOJ move in a blog post on Thursday. He also provided a statement to GeekWire.

PREVIOUSLY: Fair housing groups file federal lawsuit accusing Redfin of ‘redlining’ minority communities

“No one knows better than Redfin how hard it is for an agent to offer homebuyers a better deal when the fees brokerages charge are a secret,” Kelman said. “Redfin has saved homebuyers hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions, but until now, customers couldn’t really compare prices between brokerages. This settlement will let any real estate site show how much a buyers’ agent stands to earn on any sale.

“The fees for representing a seller are already competitive because the sellers’ agent discloses her fees up front,” he added. “Now the fees for representing a buyer will become competitive too, which can save consumers billions of dollars every year.”

The National Association of Realtors is a trade association of more than 1.4 million member realtors with over 1,400 local associations (called “Member Boards”) organized as MLSs through which realtors share information about homes for sale in their communities. Among other activities, NAR establishes and enforces rules, policies, and practices that are adopted by the Member Boards and their affiliated MLSs.

“When websites can tell the world how much money is being paid to an agent on every home her client sees, it’ll start a competitive free-for-all,” Kelman wrote in his post. “Some agents will compete on price. Hopefully, everyone will do what we all should’ve done in the first place: explain to our customers how we get paid, and ask for more or less money depending on what the market will bear.”

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.