Competition and Real Estate
As an update to an earlier post, the Canadian Competition Bureau has obtained an order from the Federal Court of Canada requiring the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to produce documents and answer questions. The Competition Bureau is investigating whether CREA’s decision to change the rules governing use of the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) by real estate agents is anti-competitive.
Currently, according to CREA, there are three “pillars” for a listing to qualify for the MLS Service: the listing must include some offer of compensation between Realtors; continuous agency relationship during the terms of the MLS listing; and accuracy of information.
While CREA maintains that it needs to tighten the rules to protect its MLS trade-mark, discount real estate agents (many operating online) claim that CREA is trying to cut them out of the MLS. According to a news report, an affidavit submitted in support of the Competition Bureau’s application for the court order states that about 90 per cent of residential real estate transactions in Canada involve the MLS system.
This entry was posted by Karen Monteith on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 7:39 am and is filed under Protection & Enforcement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.