For years, the add on value of a Realtor® has been questionable, at best. The pomp and bravado that even the registered trademark above demonstrates is nothing more glamorous than the decade plus antitrust litigation against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) by the Department of Justice. And when it comes to over $100 Billion in broker’s fees fleeced from American consumers’ pockets each and every year — that is a whopping $1 Trillion since 2013 — which DoJ is poised to put into jeopardy, the reality is that NAR should have grown a brain and simply done things legally. With the NAR refusing to provide the information requested by DoJ and with the US Supreme Court refusing to hear the NAR’s case on appeal, the reality is that with a handful of other antitrust cases pending — and its landmark case going to trial in October — the schtick is up.
There are only two issues which matter: 1) Whether the District Court misapplied contract law in setting aside CID No. 30729 and 2) Whether CID No. 30729 is otherwise lawful and enforceable. Now, the NAR is doing everything they can to follow the Oliver North principles learned during Iran Contra Affair — Better Shred Than Read. And for all of the billable hours that the lawyers are salivating on, the very same issues which are presenting in the Involuntary Bankruptcy of National Field Network case which you can search on Foreclosurepedia about, the reality is that the suppression of things like policy changes, then-president Charlie Oppler’s formal apology in November 2020 — and it is hard to type this with a straight face — but also references to discrimination such as the evidence itself connected to DoJ’s investigation tell the case itself. It is Whitewash 101 by Whitey. Nothing to see here, folks, just deposit your money and open your mouth while on your knees.
Rob Hahn, who runs the Notorious ROB over on Substack had this to say with respect to the mess,
A key observation is that no matter what happens in the civil antitrust lawsuits of Sitzer, Moehrl, Nosalek and others, even if there is a settlement that everybody agrees to, the DOJ is not a party to any of those and is not bound by any settlement. The DOJ can pursue its own ends.
The crux of this litigation, along with a lot of the other litigation, is that sharing commissions with both the buyer and seller agents violates the Sherman Act. And no matter how much advertising money is paid to The Five Star’s propaganda duo of MReport and DSNews; no matter how much more they throw at HousingWire and Inman, at the end of the day it is all lipstick on a pig. To get the better sense of what is going on, I strongly encourage you to visit Mr Hahn’s great Notorious ROB to truly understand the matter. While he and I do not necessarily agree on everything, I like his style of thinking.
Now, the reason that I am writing about the NAR and continuing to express my extreme distaste for Realtors, is because in the middle of the fight for their lives,
The president of the powerful National Association of Realtors has resigned, two days after The New York Times published an article detailing complaints from women that he exhibited a pattern of behavior that included improper touching and sending lewd photos and texts.
Kenny Parcell, the former president of the NAR, got his proverbial cock caught in a vise of his own making. Now, we can all split hairs on how a resignation doesn’t mean guilt or how a pharmaceutical company can calculate the value of a child based upon the sterile setting of a generally all white courtrooms across America without admitting guilt, as well. But, at the end of the day, the Donald Trump’s and Senator Dianne Feinstein’s of the world are being replaced. To be candid, the elderly whom called the shots and grew up during World War II are no longer relevant. The misogynistic attitudes and the backroom deals to gentrify large swaths of lower income families with 1 percenters is rapidly coming to an end. And to be clear President Biden and his fictional Working Joe moniker, along with his supporters, are just as full of shit as the MAGA Nazis out there today.
America has rapidly rediscovered itself without that permanent identity that is issued at the hospital. It is the Network Effect as I call it. Oh, I am no Dramabook subscriber nor do I do the VR goggles. I use both Windows and Linux to get the job done. On the real, though, go no further to the disruption in the labor market today. And with the death of the American Dream of homeownership long gone, much like the honor of the democracy America once was — and now nothing more than a pedestrian oligarchy — concepts such as the NAR being that bright and shining beacon of light for first time homebuyers is shown to be the true crock of shit that it is. Believe me, exploiting the unpatched network security flaw in an archaic, outsourced server is far more rewarding than the airbrushed, perfect blend of black, brown, and white that the NAR likes to hock.
I digress. It is absurd to believe that Parcell began his alleged sexual abuse at the NAR. And it is beyond absurd to believe that Parcell’s denial was anything other than his audition to work at that great bastion of honesty of the financial sector — primarily REITs and financial institutions a/k/a hedge fund casino managers. My opinion is that Parcell ought to be displayed on the perp walk and introduced to some great folks down at USP Atlanta, but alas that is only reserved for those whom have no money for attorneys and are not well connected enough to pull off antitrust schemes.
The final, most disconcerting piece on this is the simple and salient fact that Realtors kept their mouths shut. These pedantic Star Chamber urchins whom have made a living out of hyping pricing and are predators whom prey on the American public made their views quite clear when they refused to support the abused women making claims. Quoting the New York Times, here is what Jason Harber, a real estate agent at Compass had to say,
“When I looked online, I expected to see real estate boards and real estate brokerages coming out with statements not only saying they were disturbed by the actions, but condemning them and calling for change — and there was nothing,” Mr. Haber said, explaining why he started the petition.
The very same criminal offenders in the Mortgage Field Services Industry that I have covered for over a decade rub shoulders with the NAR and their network of miscreants. And the reality is that unless and until they clean their house, they will be nothing more than a byline entry in Wikipedia in the coming decade in my opinion. And for those Realtors I do rub shoulders with today, you should be ashamed of yourselves for remaining silent.
As this is an OpEd piece, if you have a rebuttal, feel free to shoot it over. If it is not chock full of bullshit propaganda or a fluff piece, we may publish it and give you a free year’s subscription!