CT Realtors among three parties dismissed from Zea lawsuit

"According to Zea, buyer's agents associated with the defendants steer clients away from properties that offer a reduced or nonexistent buyer's agent commission. In his complaint, he argues that this steering is the result of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the other defendants not enforcing their own rules."

"The rules in question relate to the mandatory display of a listing broker's contact information on the listing page in an IDX display; the commission lawsuit mandate for buyer agency agreements; and the prohibition of MLS platforms from allowing users to search or filter results by the name of the listing broker or agent, or by the amount of compensation offered."

"In his report, the magistrate judge found that the three defendants do not operate or conduct business in Florida. Additionally, he found that the ethics complaints and MLS issues cited in the complaint happened in Connecticut, meaning that any alleged injury related to these defendants occurred from his business activities in Connecticut, not from conduct in Florida."

Jorge Zea, owner of a discount brokerage offering limited services for a flat listing fee, sued the National Association of Realtors and other defendants, claiming they steered buyer's agents away from his properties by not enforcing MLS rules regarding mandatory display of listing broker contact information, commission disclosures in buyer agency agreements, and prohibitions on filtering by broker name or compensation amounts. A magistrate judge found that three defendants do not operate in Florida and that the alleged injuries occurred from Zea's Connecticut business activities, not Florida conduct. The court dismissed these three defendants while allowing claims against NAR and several Florida-based real estate entities to proceed.

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