Missouri

Department of Justice takes last-minute action against NAR Settlement

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On November 24, just 48 hours before the National Association of Realtors’ settlement agreement headed to final approval, the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the lawsuit.

The filing indicated that the DOJ did not participate in the underlying litigation, but it challenged the settlement’s provision that requires buyers and buyers’ agents to enter into a written agreement before touring a home. This provision raises concerns under antitrust laws that could be addressed in multiple ways, according to the DOJ’s statement.

The DOJ suggested rectifying the issue by eliminating the buyer broker agreement requirement or to disclaim that the settlement creates any immunity or defense under the antitrust laws. Otherwise, the court could clarify that the settlement approval affords no immunity or defense for the buyer-agreement provision. The DOJ believes the settlement could limit the ways buyer brokers compete for clients.

The final hearing is scheduled for November 26 in Missouri. The NAR said in a statement that it will advocate for a final settlement that day. The statement suggested that the settlement is not what the NAR wants, but that it is preferable to continued litigation and the uncertainty of a jury verdict.

We’ll see lots of news on this topic this week and next week!

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving wishes for you and your family!

Fake news? No, a fake homeowners’ association!

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The schemes fraudsters use to dupe property owners out of their hard earned money seem to get stranger and creepier! On February 8, a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, FOX4, reported on a homeowners’ association scam involving a quiet neighborhood in Northland Missouri.

The station reported that for years, people living in the Summerfield subdivision ignored the invoices that arrived in the mail demanding payment to a homeowners’ association. Summerfield has no owners’ association! “Summerfield Homeowners’ Association” has no board and provides no services, but someone in its behalf mailed invoices and later filed liens against the neighborhood homes.

One homeowner reported that when he moved into the neighborhood in late 2017, he was told that there was no owners’ association and no monthly assessments. But just before Christmas, a $445 lien was filed against his home as well as thirty other homes in the neighborhood.

The liens made reference to a telephone number for a company that manages the association, Column’s Park, LLC, but the man who answered the telephone at that number, according to the news report, was “some random guy” who said the number had belonged to him for five years and had nothing to do with Summerfield subdivision. The man purported told callers to let everyone in the subdivision know that he had not caused the problem, and that he was convinced it was a scam. He was apparently weary of fielding the telephone calls of the frustrated homeowners.

Unable to resolve the conundrum themselves, the neighbors called FOX4 Problem Solvers for help. The television station traced the liens to two individuals, one residing in a federal prison, convicted on an earlier charge of mortgage fraud. This convict apparently came up with a new idea for duping consumers out of money. The other individual said she believed the subdivision should have an owners’ association to pay for the upkeep of a neighborhood drainage basin. The connection between the two individuals was unclear.

The owners finally took action by hiring an attorney to assist them in eradicating the liens.  What a story! Hopefully, we won’t see this one in South Carolina.