DoJ will make ‘minor modifications’ to its settlement with the Na...

group allowed members to withhold clients’ listings from multiple listing services available to “virtual office websites,” which can offer more targeted services and lower prices than traditional full-service brokers, DoJ said. The association also blocked compensation to “referral VOWs” - those that provide online listing and search for properties but refer searchers to other brokers for home visits. DoJ allowed the association to keep technology-neutral restrictions in the settlement, such as requiring VOWs to have a “lawful consumer-broker relationship” with a user before displaying MLS data. ZipReality, a VOW broker active in 35 markets, asked DoJ to ensure that MLS operators don’t add “inappropriate and unreasonable” fees or restrictions on VOWs. DoJ responded that it hasn’t been shy about suing MLS operators over antitrust violations. The department agreed with Prudential Real Estate Affiliates that the prohibition in the new Realtors policy on VOW customer copying of listings data -- a ban intended to stop collection and resale of MLS data -- also would prohibit saving data to an “electronic property portfolio” or forwarding listings to others shopping for real estate. The association agreed to an allowance for such behavior in a revised policy, DoJ said. It also rewrote a section that upset Prudential by not expressly authorizing VOWs to provide property addresses by other means when sellers ask their brokers to keep the addresses off the Internet, DoJ said. The department confirmed for Prudential that other sections flatly bar MLS operators from withholding non-confidential data from VOWs if sellers ask only that the listings not be posted online. Non-VOW Web sites also would be barred under Internet-wide restrictions by sellers, the department said. DoJ confirmed that the settlement would be violated if an MLS charged an affiliated VOW partner -- which operators several VOWs -- separate download fees for every VOW it operates. The department declined to apply more stringent requirements for the association to enforce its revised policy on affiliated MLS providers, as requested by Prudential. DoJ said it assumes that the association would “find out through multiple channels” if affiliated MLS providers violate the policy and that the association is obligated to investigate “well- founded” claims of MLS bias. The agency agreed with Prudential that an association policy of “verifying compliance” by VOWs can’t be used to “harass” them or seek access to their general computer systems. The revised settlement requires the approval of a U.S. district judge in Chicago.