Landmark Verdict Against Realtors Among Several Problems Plaguing Industry, Say Experts

The U.S. real estate market is in an uproar following an Oct. 31 verdict in a Missouri federal court finding that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and several brokerages conspired to artificially inflate commissions paid to real estate agents. They were ordered to pay $1.79 billion in damages. Two days after the verdict in Sitzer/Burnett v. NAR Commission, the NAR announced that its CEO, Bob Goldberg, had resigned. Mr. Goldberg claimed to have made the decision in October, before the verdict was in. The Missouri verdict, which the NAR plans to appeal, paints the NAR as an unscrupulous organization that took advantage of sellers’ lack of sophistication to inflate real estate agents’ fees....