NAR faces new Whittman antitrust suit over membership structure

"Whittman, who is a licensed broker in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, is suing NAR, Virginia Realtors, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, Maryland Realtors and the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, claiming that the three-way membership agreement structure has caused him to suffer millions of dollars in damages. The plaintiff claims that the membership structure constitutes a nationwide cartel structure that extracts fees at every level, and that it creates unlawful restraints of trade, exclusionary practices and fee structures."

"In the complaint, Whittman refers to the Realtor association defendants as predatory, and an infestation, as well as cancerous growths feeding on Realtors. Defendants are nothing more than private corporations that have entrenched themselves as gatekeepers, constructing a tri-layered paywall of local, state and national dues forcibly extracted to unlock MLS, lockboxes and standard forms, the complaint states. Whittman, who is representing himself pro se, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Maryland."

Whittman is a licensed broker in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia who is suing NAR and multiple state and local Realtor associations over a three-way membership agreement. He alleges the membership structure has caused him millions in damages and functions as a nationwide cartel that extracts fees at every level, creating unlawful restraints of trade and exclusionary practices. He describes the associations as predatory and as gatekeepers that enforce a tri-layered paywall of local, state and national dues to access MLS, lockboxes and standard forms. He says the dues structure hampered his firm's expansion and prompted agent departures. He seeks damages and an injunction against three-way membership. NAR responded that membership is optional and that its integrated structure provides value to members.

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