Antitrust case against NAR, top brokerages dismissed
A 2024 lawsuit accused the defendants of conspiring to boycott flat-fee brokerage Homie, but a judge said it was filed too late and failed to prove its claims.
The National Association of Realtors and four major real estate firms tallied a key court victory in a suit alleging anticompetitive behavior and steering.
On July 15, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball agreed with a motion to dismiss charges brought by Homie Technology — a flat-fee brokerage based in Utah — against NAR, Anywhere Real Estate, Keller Williams, RE/MAX and HomeServices of America. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that Homie cannot sue the companies again based on the same claims.
The Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service, which is tied to UtahRealEstate.com, was also listed as an original defendant but was dismissed from the case in October.
What the lawsuit was about: The case, filed in a Utah district court last August, alleged that the defendants conspired against Homie through a boycott scheme. The filing also sought to provide evidence of steering and included details of emails and texts from NAR members telling the company they would not show Homie listings to their clients because the commission was too low.
Additionally, the original lawsuit claimed NAR and its members "control competition in the residential real estate brokerage industry by controlling the nation's MLSs" through policies like Clear Cooperation.
Why it was dismissed: In a 33-page filing, Kimball listed several reasons for dismissing the antitrust charges, but most importantly, noted that the statute of limitations had run out. Homie had challenged the CCP, which was proposed in 2019 and adopted in early 2020, but didn't file a complaint until 2024. The statute of limitations for such cases is four years, according to the court.
"Even if it were legally relevant, Homie cannot claim to have been ignorant of the allegedly anticompetitive nature of the Challenged NAR Rules," Kimball wrote, noting that Homie's original lawsuit acknowledged that class action cases — like Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett — were filed by home sellers in 2019 "challenging the very same rules that are at issue in this case and making the same exclusionary arguments as Homie."
As for the boycott scheme, Kimball said Homie failed to establish the defendants' participation, noting that the boycott discussions were driven by individual real estate agents, and their affiliation with a defendant was not enough to "suggest any Defendant agreed with any local agent to boycott Homie," Kimball wrote.
Reaction to the dismissal: In an email, a spokesperson for NAR said they were pleased with the ruling.
"NAR will continue to facilitate local real estate marketplaces that provide fair and equal access to property information, foster competition, and empower NAR members to serve clients on their homebuying and selling journeys," the statement said.
Real Estate News has also reached out to Homie for comment. The company was founded in 2015 in Utah and expanded into several states, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Nevada.