Which two top stories of 2024 will advance to the finals? Inman readers cast their votes today to weigh in on the most consequential stories of the year.
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The competition is winding down, and just four top stories of the year remain in Inman’s News Knockout of 2024.
Through votes cast, readers showed that stories surrounding the commission lawsuits settlement, scrutiny over industry practice changes and alleged bad behavior by luxury brokers had the greatest impact on the industry this year by far. Challenges to real estate portals and the internal battles between them have also significantly affected the industry this year, according to readers’ votes.
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Which two top stories of 2024 will advance to the finals? Cast your vote today to weigh in.
Bracket 1: Commission lawsuits settlement vs. Portals
“NAR agrees to sweeping changes in $418M commission settlement”
By Taylor Anderson
All eyes were on the National Association of Realtors this year as the association announced its $418 million proposed settlement of the antitrust commission lawsuits that had rocked the industry for the last few years. The settlement, which NAR will be paying out over the next four years, also stipulated a series of industry practice changes that agents, brokers, associations and MLSs had to put into effect by Aug. 17, 2024.
Among them, NAR agreed to not create rules that allow listing agents to set compensation for buyer brokers. The association also created a new rule prohibiting offers of compensation from appearing in the MLS. Buyer brokers who are MLS participants would also be required to enter into a written representation agreement before touring homes.
The terms of the settlement fundamentally changed the way real estate professionals view their roles as salespeople and advisors, and has already started to impact the way in which consumers view the industry, early Inman Intel data shows.
“Realtors file suit against Move, NAR over ‘fake leads’ scheme”
By Marian McPherson
Real estate portals turned up the heat in competing with one another this year, with CoStar in particular shelling out major cash to level up its marketing in a bid for the crown. But as competition grew, scrutiny over how portals operate also intensified, with a group of Realtors coming down hard on Realtor.com parent company Move in a class action lawsuit that alleged the company had sold unvetted and fraudulent leads through its websites, including Realtor.com.
NAR and lead generation tech platform Opcity were also named as defendants in the lawsuit for their role in allegedly selling fake leads. The suit claims that senior execs and other members of management at News Corp, Move, Realtor.com and NAR also knew about agents’ growing discontent with lead quality and “willfully and consciously” ignored the concerns.
On Dec. 10, the defendants moved the lawsuit from LA County Superior Court to federal court because of the suit’s class-action status.
Bracket 2: Practice changes vs. Bad behavior
“Michael Ketchmark: Every move you make, we’ll be watching you”
By Andrea V. Brambila
In advance of major industry practice changes that went into effect on Aug. 17, real estate professionals scrambled to ensure they had the approved paperwork and new client conversations all lined up. As new contracts in some locales were rolled out, reversed, and rolled out again, it had some agents on edge, wondering if they were truly prepared for the big day.
On top of it all, the seller plaintiffs’ attorneys in the legal battle against NAR and industry players suggested that they would continue to keep the pressure on, and that the industry should be ready for that.
Michael Ketchmark, the lead counsel for plaintiffs in the Sitzer | Burnett case told Inman, “If anyone thinks they’re going to be able to avoid the application of this settlement agreement and the law by creating some new forms or hiding this cooperation on new websites, they’re wrong. If we get any sense that people or corporations are doing that out there as a way around this, we plan on taking swift legal action.”
“Alexander brothers charged with sex trafficking in fed indictment”
By Lillian Dickerson
Several parties in the real estate industry were hit with lawsuits in 2024 over allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment, kickback schemes and more. But the most shocking claims were revealed in the final month of the year when once hot-shot luxury broker brothers Oren and Tal Alexander were federally indicted on charges of sex trafficking.
For months, the brothers faced increasing pressure as multiple lawsuits were filed against them, starting last spring, with allegations that included sexual assault, rape and drugging women. The brothers continue to deny the allegations against them, even as dozens of additional alleged victims came forward with claims against them.
As the months went by, their brokerage, Official, began to crumble, they became recipients of an FBI probe, were also sued by their white-label firm, Side, and, on Dec. 11, were arrested for facilitating a “long-running sex trafficking scheme,” according to a federal indictment.