The National Association of Realtors is taking a licensed online broker to court for what it claims are misleading and false claims taking advantage of consumers.
REX-Real Estate Exchange, Incorporated, is based in Austin, Texas, and offers online selling and buying of residential properties in some 15 states across the country.
Launched in 2015, the company uses data modeling, among other practices, to match home sellers and buyers in an expeditious fashion.
The company says that it features seller fees of as little of 2.5%, rather than the more traditional 5% to 6% that most realtors charge, steering consumers away from those traditional brokers in the process.
But according to the National Association of Realtors, in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, the company has made “false and misleading statements about its services,” and in so doing has deceived consumers.
“The truth is that if home buyers and sellers are deceived into avoiding multiple listing services, they would lose the services’ pro-consumer, pro-competitive benefits,” said Leslie Rouda Smith, NAR President, in a statement.
The NAR action is partly in response to a suit filed last year by REX in which the online company charged that both the National Association of Realtors and the real estate search site Zillow were segregating listings in a way that was damaging to REX.
At the time of that suit, Jack Ryan, chief executive officer of REX, remarked that the “segregation rule has no place in real estate. REX is committed to making all listings accessible to all consumers through digital technology and an honest approach to every customer.”
It is not known when the National Association of Realtors suit against REX will be heard. Representing more than 1.5 million members, NAR, in its suit, is also seeking monetary damages and a reimbursement of costs and attorneys’ fees.
By Garry Boulard
