Category: Realtor

Homeowners, realtors should protect against title fraud: experts

It’s been years since you finished paying off your mortgage, so the letter in the mail from a bank saying you’re in default and now owe money comes as a shock.

Not only did you not take out another mortgage on your property, you’ve never even dealt with that bank before. Yet the documents you’re presented with say otherwise.

At this point, you realize you may have been the victim of fraud.

The chances of that scenario playing out may seem far-fetched, but experts say title and mortgage fraud are growing fast in Canada and homeowners should take steps to protect their properties — and their identities.

Title fraud refers to when the ownership or title of a property is fraudulently changed or documents are forged to allow a fraudster to illegally sell or refinance the property.

The issue gained prominence last year amid two Toronto police investigations in which homes were allegedly listed for sale without the owners’ knowledge, including one where the home was sold.

While those were “extreme” cases, more common is mortgage fraud, where fraudsters obtain a mortgage from a lender under false pretenses, said Daniel La Gamba, a real estate attorney and partner at LD

The National Association of Realtors doesn’t set commission rates

Some are saying the association is the one who made that 6% commission rate standard.

CHARLOTTE, NC — A new settlement may change commission rates for real estate agents moving forward.

For decades, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has required brokers to provide an offer of compensation to buyers agents up front. That usually comes to about 6%, split between the sellers and buyers agents. Some are saying the association is responsible for making that 6% commission rate standard.

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A $418 million settlement is about to change the game when it comes to commissions for real estate agents. Sellers would no longer have to make a compensation proposal to prospective buyers and their agents.

Some are saying that the so-called standard 6% commission set by the NAR will go away — but has it always been 6%? The WCNC Charlotte Verify team looked into it.

THE QUESTION

Does the NAR set commission rates?

THE ANSWER

No, the NAR does not set these commission rates. They have always been negotiable.

THE SOURCES

WHAT WE FOUND

“The NAR does not set commissions, and they

REALTORS® Woke Us Up to Stark Housing Reality

The REALTOR® voice is moving the needle on Capitol Hill as the housing inventory and affordability crises come into clearer focus and lawmakers realize they must support legislation to boost homeownership. “Be encouraged because you are making progress,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) told REALTORS® last week at the NAR Policy Forum in Washington, DC “And we continue to make progress with your help.”

The forum, which brought together economists, housing analysts and policymakers, highlighted several pieces of housing legislation on the table in Congress and backed by the National Association of REALTORS®. The proposed More Homes on the Market Act, for example, would increase the capital gains tax exclusion and incentivize longtime homeowners to sell. Other legislation is under consideration for tax credits that would attract private investment to rehab owner-occupied homes and convert empty office buildings into residential properties.

“The National Association of REALTORS® is working tirelessly in Washington to ensure that the next generation and those who have historically been shut out of homeownership have access to the vital wealth-building opportunities that are created through homeownership,” said NAR Vice President of Advocacy Nate Johnson. “Our advocacy work has scored a number of important wins. For years, NAR has

Orillia man gets life in prison for killing Collingwood realtor

‘Every murder is by definition a crime of great violence, but the assault on Miss Kriston was particularly vicious,’ said judge who sentenced John Collins today

Warning: The following story contains details of domestic violence and murder that some readers may find disturbing.

John Collins has been handed a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 16 years.

Orillia resident Collins pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder in the death of Kinga ‘Kay’ Kriston, a real estate agent found dead in her Collingwood home on June 10, 2022. He was sentenced in a Barrie courtroom on Jan. 9 by Madam Justice Michelle Fuerst.

“Every murder is by definition a crime of great violence, but the assault on Miss Kriston was particularly vicious,” said Fuerst in her decision to read out to the court. “She was attacked in her own bed, in her own home, a place that should have been one of safety and refuge from harm.”

A statement of facts agreed upon by Collins’ defense lawyers, David O’Connor and Brenda Lawson, and the Crown attorneys, Lynne Saunders and Jenna Dafoe, laid out what the prosecution referred to as “a brutal murder of the gravest

NAR Corrects the Record About Commissions

NAR issued a statement following inaccurate media coverage that included the false representation or suggestion the association requires a 6% commission.

CHICAGO – The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) does not set commissions – they are negotiable. The rule that has been the subject of litigation requires only that listing brokers communicate an offer of compensation. That offer can be any amount, including zero. And other rules throughout the MLS Handbook and NAR policy expressly prohibit MLSs, associations, and brokers from setting or suggesting any such amount that should be included in that field.

The text of the current rule is linked here and excerpted below, the text of our MLS Antitrust Compliance Policy is linked here and excerpted below and a notice included in NAR’s MLS Handbook is below.

Again, the current rule that has been the subject of litigation does not set commissions.

As reflected in our release about the proposed settlement agreement, NAR has agreed to put in place a new MLS rule prohibiting offers of broker compensation on the MLS. Commissions remain negotiable, as they have been.

Excerpt from Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy – Commission/Cooperative Compensation Offers, Section 1: Information Specifying the Compensation on Each

Real estate industry facing pushback to longstanding rules setting agent commissions on home sales

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A series of court challenges seek to end longstanding real estate industry practices that determine the commission agents receive on the sale of a home — and who foots the bill.

A federal jury in one of those cases on Tuesday ordered the National Association of Realtors along with some of the nation’s biggest real estate brokerages to pay almost $1.8 billion in damages, after finding they artificially inflated commissions paid to real estate agents.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2019 on behalf of 500,000 home sellers in Missouri and several border towns. The verdict stated that the defendants “conspired to require home sellers to pay the broker representing the buyer of their homes in violation of federal antitrust law.”

If treble damages — which allows plaintiffs to potentially receive up to three times actual or compensatory damages — are awarded, then the defendants may have to pay more than $5 billion.

“This matter is not close to being final as we will appeal the jury’s verdict,” Mantill Williams, a spokesman for the NAR, said in a statement. “In the interim, we will ask the court to reduce the damages awarded by the jury.”

Williams

Real estate brokers weigh in at the end of commission rules

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Real Estate industry is changing. The National Association of Realtors announced on March 15 an anti-trust settlement of $418 million that’s ending rules on commission.

What You Need To Know

The National Association of Realtors announced on March 15 an anti-trust settlement of $418 million

Until now, home sellers often paid about 6% of the sale price toward a fee that would be split between their own agent and the buyer’s agent

The new plan can leave realtor pay up in the air, depending on the contract

Sunny Alexander is the Owner and Broker for Red Sash Reality and one of more than one million members of the NAR is ready to adapt.

“Change is good,” he said. “It’s going to be rough learning the new normal.”

Alexander has been in the industry for nearly 20 years. He started his journey in Tennessee after serving in the Army. For the last six years, she’s shown homes in Tampa Bay.

She says she’s the voice of reason for her customers and tries to guide them to the best decisions.

“They either need to sell a house or they need to buy a house,” she said. “So

Home sellers can say goodbye to hefty 6% commissions under new real estate deal

As part of an agreement to settle a series of lawsuits over inflated real estate commissions, the National Association of Realtors said Friday that big changes are on the way.

The group says it will pay more than $418 million to settle the lawsuits. But much more significantly, industry experts say, the settlement will upend the real estate market and create more competition, which will lead to lower commissions.

The realtor group said it will eliminate a longstanding rule that mandated a non-negotiable commission be posted on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), its real estate database, which handles more than 90% of home sales. Currently, to list a home with MLS, the non-negotiable commission is typically between 5 and 6 percent.

By removing that rule, real estate commissions can be negotiated, which could lead to lower costs for home sellers.

Asked for comment, the National Association of Realtors referred NJ Advance Media to its statement.

“This would mean that offers of broker compensation could not be communicated via the MLS, but they could continue to be an option consumers can pursue off-MLS through negotiation and consultation with real estate professionals,” said Nykia Wright, the group’s interim CEO, in the statement.

How does the National Association of Realtors’ settlement affect you?

By Alicia Wallace, CNN

(CNN) — The National Association of Realtors’ recent $418 million settlement to end antitrust legal claims came with a bombshell: Decades-long rules and informal guidelines — especially those that made a 6% commission the norm — could be overhauled.

This proposed settlement is not only expected to fundamentally change how Americans buy and sell homes, but it could also transform the nation’s real estate industry, including the number of agents within the sector. Economists also predict that the process of buying a home could be cheaper; However, it could also mean more upfront costs — potentially making it harder on lower-income and first-time buyers.

Do you work in real estate, or do you have plans to buy or sell a home in the near future? We’d like to hear from you as to how this ruling and proposed changes could affect you.

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How a real estate industry shake-up could affect Idaho home buyers and sellers – LocalNews8.com

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A big change could be coming to the national real estate industry potentially impacting the how homes are bought and sold.

Last year, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reached a settlement after losing a lawsuit involving the commission structure through which buyers’ agents receive their pay.

If this new settlement is approved by a federal court, here’s how things could change for people looking to buy or sell a home in Idaho.

The NAR’s current system

Under the current system, buyer agents can search through a list of homes for sale through the NAR’s multiple listing service (MLS).

It’s an online database that shows them the seller’s information, the home price, and most controversially, how much the buyer’s agent’s commission is. According to Associate Broker Jessica Cardon of the Murdock Manwaring Company, this actually does have some benefits.

“We incentivize to say, ‘Hey, if you bring a buyer, I’m willing to share as the listing agent,'” Cardon said. “The listing agent is taking a portion of the commission that they’ve negotiated with the seller and giving it to the cooperating broker.”

Cardon tells us realtors use this method as a marketing tool towards potential