Canada’s Competition Bureau is suing the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) after it refused to open up its full Multiple Listings Service (MLS) to non-members.
The Competition Bureau has filed an application with the Competition Tribunal alleging TREB practices deny consumer choice and stifle innovation in the industry.
“Today, consumers are demanding a greater selection of service and pricing options when buying or selling their homes and many agents are eager to accommodate them,” said Commissioner Melanie Aitken.
TREB members can access more detailed information on the Toronto MLS than ordinary members of the public can on Realtor.ca, including previous listing and sale prices, historical prices for comparable properties in the area, and the amount of time a property has been on the market.
The Competition Bureau wants TREB to allow all agents to be able to share this data with clients through password-protected virtual office websites.
Currently, agents can only provide this information to house hunters by hand, mail, fax, or email.
In the U.S., agents can operate virtual offices where they can electronically share historical sales data.
Last year, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) agreed not to discriminate against real estate agents who chose to post houses on CREA’s all-important MLS without offering customers the full suite of traditional realtor services.
The deal was hailed as a victory for consumers who no longer have to pay commissions of up to 5% of the value of the transaction in order to list their property on the MLS, which offers maximum exposure, if they are comfortable negotiating on their own behalf.
Others said the deal would encourage homeowners to enter into complicated transactions blindly, with possibly devastating financial consequences.
TREB is the largest real estate board in Canada with approximately 31,000 members.
Article source: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Business/2011/05/27/18203371.html