Update on DOJ Statement of Interest in MLS PIN Litigation

Louisiana REALTORS® • February 20, 2024

A Word from Katie Johnson, NAR Chief Legal Officer and Chief Member Experience Officer

Last night (Thursday, February 14, 2024), the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the attached Statement of Interest in the Nosalek v. MLS PIN, et al., which is a lawsuit challenging the rule and practice of cooperative compensation between listing and buyer brokers. MLS PIN is not wholly owned by REALTOR® associations and therefore is not required to follow NAR’s MLS guidelines. MLS PIN does, however, have a rule that requires listing brokers to make an offer of compensation to buyer brokers. To be clear, the DOJ does not have veto rights over class-action settlements, so the court can still approve the settlement over the DOJ’s objection.

 

The DOJ’s submission is a broadside attack on how homes have been bought and sold in the United States for decades. Specifically, the DOJ argues that listing brokers and sellers should be prohibited from offering compensation to buyer brokers, thereby seeking to eliminate the choice sellers and listing brokers currently have as to whether to offer compensation for buyer representation.

 

This shows, as NAR has long said, that the DOJ wants to regulate what sellers and their listing agents are allowed to do with their own money and homes. We believe the DOJ is wrong and that the government fundamentally misunderstands the market. Prohibiting offers of compensation will harm consumers, including by making it more costly for home buyers to access capable representation and by reducing fair access to housing. Notably, the DOJ does not provide any new or original analysis to support its opinion—it merely wants to substitute its own policy judgments for how the market has evolved through free market competition to best serve consumers. The DOJ’s proposal would also invalidate the numerous state statutes which explicitly permit offers of compensation to buyer brokers.

 

For years, NAR has advised members, MLSs, and corporate defendants that the DOJ seeks relief beyond the rule changes proposed in the MLS PIN settlement and summarized below. As illustrated in this Statement of Interest, the DOJ’s ideas are short-sighted and overly simplistic. They ignore harms that will result to homebuyers — especially first-time, low-income, minority, or veteran homebuyers — and gamble with the American economy.

 

These are challenging times, and NAR has the unique responsibility to consider these issues holistically, taking into account the complexities involved in how consumers buy and sell homes. The tough decisions NAR has made regarding the rule and litigation strategy are based on the insights we have concerning the views of all of stakeholders, and we remain steadfast in our resolve to protect free market competition and promote fair access to home ownership for all Americans.

 

I’ve provided high-level takeaways from DOJ’s submission below, but I encourage you to read the document in its entirety. As you will see, it shows that the DOJ’s focus is on the practice of how sellers and their brokers advertise their homes in the free-market — which goes beyond the scope of NAR and its model rule. Additionally, while NAR is not a party to this litigation, the DOJ’s position in this case is relevant to how NAR, MLSs, buyers, sellers, and brokers address cooperative compensation now and in the future. We will continue to work, in and out of court, toward the best possible outcome for property owners in America and the professionals who represent them.

 

High-level Takeaways from the DOJ’s Statement of Interest

  • The proposed change to MLS PIN’s cooperative compensation rule included: (i) making the cooperative compensation rule optional, (ii) allowing the offer to be as little as zero-dollars, and (iii) having the offer made from the seller and not the listing broker. The DOJ calls these “cosmetic changes” that are inadequate because it “still gives sellers and their listing brokers a role in setting compensation for buyers’ brokers.”
  •  The DOJ objects that the proposed modified rule “gives decision-making authority for setting buyer-broker commissions to sellers, and it rewards buyer brokers a fixed amount regardless of the services buyers actually receive.”
  •  The DOJ uses the rule changes enacted by Northwest MLS (NWMLS) in 2019 and 2022 in support of its position that the settlement should be denied because NWMLS rule changes “mirror the proposed settlement here.”
  • “Neither [NWMLS] revision appears to have led to a decrease in buyer-broker commissions.”
  • “As NWMLS’s experience reflects, MLS PIN could voluntarily adopt the settlement’s proposed changes without meaningfully altering commission-setting practices or increasing competition.”
  •  The DOJ objects to the proposed modified rule change allowing offers of compensation to be zero, rather than a penny because:
  • “If virtually no sellers make one-cent offers of compensation to buyer brokers now, they are unlikely to make zero-cent offers under the new Rule.”
  • Following Bright MLS’s announcement that it was allowing zero to be offered as compensation, ten other MLSs (listed in Appendix B) also announced that change to their MLS and “[t]hat many MLSs have recently allowed zero-compensation offers unilaterally—without receiving any release of claims from injured home sellers or buyers—confirms that the proposed injunction provides little benefit.”
  •   “To address the competitive problem alleged by Plaintiffs, the Settling Parties could agree to an injunction that prohibits offers of buyer-broker compensation by MLS PIN participants. If MLS PIN rules prohibited sellers and listing brokers from deciding what buyer brokers would be paid, sellers would be responsible for determining only the compensation of their own broker in the listing contract, while buyers would be responsible for determining the compensation of their own broker in a buyer-broker representation contract.”
  •  The DOJ objects that the proposed modified rule would be in effect for at least three years because such obligation “could unnecessarily interfere with the ability of the United States, or other government enforcers, and private parties” to take actions against the modified rule.
02/15/2024 DOJ Statement of Interest Affidavit 02/15/2024 DOJ Statement of Interest

2026 Legislative Session Scoop - Week 7 Recap

By Louisiana REALTORS® • April 24, 2026
Week seven of the 2026 Regular Session was one of the most active weeks yet for legislation affecting the real estate industry. Louisiana REALTORS® remained heavily engaged as lawmakers advanced bills dealing with property disclosures, appraiser liability, rent regulation, insurance, blight, redevelopment and other issues that directly affect real estate professionals, property owners and consumers across the state. One of the most important bills this week was HB 1166 by Rep. Kim Carver , which would require disclosures for vacant residential property. The bill was reported from House Commerce with amendments on a 14-0 vote and then amended on the House floor, ordered engrossed, and passed to third reading. Louisiana REALTORS® testified on the bill in committee and worked closely with the author to better posture the legislation. Amendments advanced by our team were accepted by the author, helping improve the bill while preserving a practical disclosure framework that increases transparency without creating unnecessary confusion in the transaction process. Another closely watched issue this week was consumer-fee disclosure legislation. HB 617 by Rep. Mandie Landry moved this week, advancing from House Commerce and then the House floor, while HB 580 , another hidden-fee disclosure bill touching real estate transactions, remains pending. Louisiana REALTORS® is opposed to these measures in their current form to the extent they apply to real estate professionals because they are not well-tailored to the realities of real estate transactions, where many costs are negotiated, variable or controlled by third parties. Louisiana REALTORS® testified in opposition to the bills we oppose and is actively working with the author to better posture the legislation and remove real estate professionals from its scope altogether. On HB 472 by Rep. Alonzo Knox , the rent stabilization bill, the author is expected to try to bring the measure back before the committee next week with amendments. Even so, Louisiana REALTORS® remain opposed to the bill on principle. Price gouging is already illegal under existing law, and government-imposed rent regulation is not the right answer to housing affordability challenges. Louisiana REALTORS® testified in opposition to the bill and continues to oppose the measure because policies like this risk discouraging investment, reducing housing supply, and creating further market distortions rather than solving the underlying problem. HB 468 by Rep. Troy Hebert , which regulates the wholesale of residential real property, remains pending in the Senate Commerce Committee and continues to be an important bill for the industry. Likewise, HB 1027 by Rep. Troy Hebert , dealing with appraiser liability, had a strong week, passing the House 90-0 and moving to the Senate. Both measures are significant because they promote greater clarity, consumer protection and confidence in the real estate marketplace. Blight and redevelopment issues also remained active. HB 284 by Rep. John Wyble , which would allow certain local governments to expropriate blighted property through a declaration-of-taking process, remains subject to call and continues to raise serious concerns about private property rights. By contrast, HB 214 and HB 217 by Rep. Chance Henry , which create tax incentives for the rehabilitation of blighted property, represent a more constructive redevelopment approach by encouraging reinvestment rather than expanding government taking authority. Insurance legislation also remained a major focus this week, with multiple bills heard that could affect homeownership costs, market stability and post-storm recovery. Measures dealing with Louisiana Citizens assessments, pre-suit insurance claim review, the Fortified Homes Program and insurance market transparency all carry real implications for affordability and transaction viability. In Louisiana, insurance remains one of the most important issues affecting the real estate market, and Louisiana REALTORS® continues to closely track that legislation. Taken together, week seven showed that Louisiana REALTORS® remains actively engaged where it matters most: supporting practical transaction standards, protecting private property rights, testifying for and against legislation when necessary, pushing back on unworkable regulation and rent-control-style policies, and advancing policies that strengthen housing opportunity and market stability across Louisiana. Please view the weekly bill tracking report provided by our lobbying team over at Harris, DeVille and Associates.

Consumer Guide Update: Navigating Interest Rates Shifts

By Louisiana REALTORS® • April 23, 2026
NAR is pleased to share the latest consumer guide helping buyers navigate shifting interest rates. The one-page guide covers how lenders set rates, the impact of small shifts on monthly payments and strategies to get the lowest rate possible. As a reminder, all guides in this series are available for download—in both English and Spanish—on facts.realtor . Please allow up to two weeks for the Spanish version of the latest resource to be translated and uploaded. For ease of reference, below is a list of the most recent guides: NEW: Navigating Interest Rate Shifts Financing a Renovation When You Buy Staging Your House for a Sale Spotting Deepfake Scams in Real Estate Are You Ready to Invest in Real Estate? Thank you for your continued engagement with the “Consumer Guide” series and for sharing the resources with prospective clients to ensure they have the information they need to find success in their home buying or selling journey. Remember that these guides are for informational purposes only and are not meant to enact or change any existing NAR policy. Be on the lookout for the next consumer guide, which looks at how solar installations may impact home sales transactions.

2026 Legislative Session Scoop - Week 6 Recap

By Louisiana REALTORS® • April 17, 2026
Louisiana REALTORS® spent week six of the Legislative Session actively engaged on several bills at the Capitol impacting core industry priorities, including private property rights, affordability, redevelopment and transaction-related regulations. Most of the meaningful activity remained in the House, where lawmakers continued advancing measures with direct implications for the real estate market. HB 284 by Rep. John Wyble , which would authorize certain local governments to expropriate blighted property by declaration-of-taking, failed on final passage in the House Tuesday by a 48-47 vote, and remains subject to reconsideration. Meanwhile, HB 472 by Rep. Alonzo Knox , which would authorize rent stabilization at the local level, was voluntarily deferred in committee following testimony from Louisiana REALTORS® and our partners at the Louisiana Apartment Association effectively ending its path this session. This marks a significant win, as rent control policies do not address housing supply challenges and instead risk further market distortion. In House Commerce, several key bills moved forward. HB 1027 by Rep. Troy Hebert , which clarifies that appraisers are not liable for a seller’s failure to meet smoke and carbon monoxide detector requirements, passed committee unanimously and is now slated for a House floor vote. This common-sense measure protects appraisers and helps preserve efficiency in the transaction process. HB 673 by Rep. Tammy Phelps , which would have imposed new security camera mandates on certain blighted properties, was also voluntarily deferred following industry opposition. Additionally, HB 426 by Rep. Phelps , which addresses criminal blighting and expands enforcement liability, remains under consideration. Louisiana REALTORS® is monitoring this bill closely to ensure efforts to address blight do not unintentionally discourage investment or redevelopment. We continue to track broader market integrity and redevelopment efforts. HB 468 by Rep. Hebert , addressing residential wholesaling, has now moved to the Senate after unanimous House passage. HB 217 by Rep. Chance Henry , which provides tax incentives for the rehabilitation of blighted property, also remains active in the Senate and represents a constructive approach to redevelopment. Looking ahead, the House Commerce Committee will consider HB 1166 by Rep. Kim Carver next week, which addresses disclosure requirements for vacant residential property. Louisiana REALTORS® supports clear, consistent consumer disclosures and have been working closely with the author and the Louisiana Real Estate Commission to ensure the bill is structured to promote transparency while maintaining practical standards and avoiding unintended liability for real estate professionals. Overall, the House carried the bulk of real estate activity this week, while the Senate saw limited movement on major REALTOR® priorities. As the session continues, Louisiana REALTORS® remains focused on protecting private property rights, opposing harmful market interventions, supporting responsible redevelopment and advancing policies that strengthen real estate transactions for both consumers and our members. Please view the weekly bill tracking report provided by our lobbying team over at Harris, DeVille and Associates.
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