In March 2024, the National Association of Realtors (the “NAR “) agreed to pay $418 million to settle antitrust lawsuits alleging it conspired to inflate agents’ commissions, which, in turn, had been artificially driving up the cost of homes. On November 26, 2024, a judge granted final court approval of the NAR settlement, which according to the NAR website, secured “a release of liability for over 1.4 million NAR members, all state/territorial and local REALTOR® associations, REALTOR® multiple listing services (MLSs), NAR’s affiliate organizations and all brokerages with an NAR member as principal that had a residential transaction volume in 2022 of $2 billion or below. The settlement also releases MLSs and brokerages that chose to opt-in to the agreement.” See how the new 2024 NAR rules impact homebuyers and home sales moving forward.
Two Key Changes with 2024 NAR Rules 
As a part of the settlement, a seller will need to decide whether, and how much, to pay a buyer’s broker. That information can no longer be included in what’s known as the multiple listing service (the “MLS”), the official real estate data service used by local realtor associations.
For buyers, there are two key changes to note with the new 2024 NAR Rules:
- One intention of the settlement and rules proposed is to stop the real estate practice of “steering”. “Steering” is the practice of a buyer’s agent guiding clients toward properties with higher commission payouts instead of those best suited to their clients preferences such as location, neighborhood, home features, budget, schools, etc. Now agents cannot just search the MLS for listings offering higher commissions and push their clients to other listings so they (the agent) can receive a higher commission.
- Another change per the NAR settlement is how the relationship between a buyer and an agent is established. Buyers will be required to sign an agreement with their own broker before starting to view homes. The buyer and the agent must agree, and put in writing, how much the agent can expect to receive from the buyer. A recent explanation of the rules from the National Association of Realtors says it must be “objective (e.g., $0, X flat fee, X percent, X hourly rate) – and not open-ended (e.g., cannot be ‘buyer broker compensation shall be whatever the amount the seller is offering to the buyer’).”
Buyers will not be able to even tour a home with a realtor before signing a legally binding representation contract now that the new NAR settlement rules are in place.
Support in the real estate industry
In general, the new 2024 NAR rules are expected to bring greater transparency for consumers, and perhaps greater competition for agents, in the real estate industry.
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, there are also great benefits to utilizing a residential real estate attorney. Unlike a real estate agent, an attorney’s fees are not contingent on closing, allowing them to truly serve as advocates for clients on either side of a real estate transaction.
