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The National Association of Realtors has agreed to a landmark settlement that would eliminate real estate brokers' longstanding automatic commissions, commonly of up to 6% of the purchase price. Instead, home buyers and sellers would be able to negotiate fees with their agents up front. If the $418 million legal agreement is approved by a federal court, consumer advocates predict the ranks of real estate agents will thin, further driving down commission prices. "For years, anti-competitive rules in the real estate industry have financially harmed millions," said Benjamin Brown, managing partner at the Cohen Milstein law firm and one of...

Things are not OK in Realtorland. The US housing market is still reeling from pandemic-era shocks, home sales are stuck in a rut, and mortgage rates, while inching downward, are still near two-decade highs. It's a bad time to be a buyer, and maybe a worse time to be a seller. Despite all this upheaval, there's another story brewing in which the stakes for everyone in real estate, from agents to the average consumer, are even higher. It won't have anything to do with the debate over whether you should put your hard-earned cash toward rent or a down payment....

The recent $1.8 billion jury verdict against the National Association of Realtors and several top brokerage firms highlights mounting legal and market pressures on real estate commissions. A recent Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst report estimated that the $100 billion paid in real-estate commissions annually could be cut by 30%, with as many as 1.6 million agents losing their source of income. Commissions are already negotiable, but buyers agents are likely losers as homebuyers are more likely to bypass them, or in the least, negotiate for lower fees. A recent jury verdict against the National Association of Realtors and large...

A class-action lawsuit filed by home sellers that would fundamentally change the way houses are bought and sold, and in particular, the way real estate agents are compensated, is catching the attention of local agents. Currently, no matter how much experience a buyer’s agent has in the real estate industry, they get the same commission from the seller that a seasoned veteran does. A case in Illinois known as Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors would change that if the plaintiffs win. The plaintiffs filed suit against NAR and several major real estate brokerage companies, claiming the system that splits...

The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was a common practice through most of its history. The practice started in 1683 during the reign of Charles II and continued until abolished on 1 November 1871, as part of the Cardwell Reforms. Commissions could only be purchased in cavalry and infantry regiments (and therefore up to the rank of Colonel only).

Natural gas developers in Pennsylvania are hoping a recent water quality report by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission could squelch plans for a fracking ban that’s currently being considered by the neighboring Delaware River Basin Commission. The SRBC’s Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network report, which was released last month, revealed that water quality scores at 14 of the 16 stations in the basin were in the “good” or “excellent” categories According to a fact sheet from the Susquehanna commission, the monitoring stations are located in areas where active drilling takes place, as well as areas free of development, in order...

The Italian government on Thursday dissolved four town councils due to evidence of mafia infiltration. The affected towns were Laureana di Borrello, Bova Marina, and Gioia Taura, all located in Reggio Calabria at the toe of Italy’s boot, as well as San Felice a Cancello in Caserta, Campania. […] Government-appointed commissions will take over council duties, the ministry said, and local elections scheduled for June 11th will no longer take place in two of the Sicilian towns. […] In 2016, the government disbanded the local council of Corleone because of suspected mafia infiltration of the Sicilian town which helped inspire...

The IRS Is Defying An Obama Administration Order To Give Employees $70 Million In Bonuses Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated PressJune 20, 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — Already reeling from a pair of scandals, the Internal Revenue Service is drawing new criticism over plans to hand out millions of dollars in employee bonuses. The Obama administration has ordered agencies to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts, but the IRS says it's merely following legal obligations under a union contract. The agency is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses, said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the...

Gov. Jerry Brown wants to eliminate dozens of state panels and commissions, a good idea and long overdue. But the governor needs to be more inclusive, and stalk bigger game. His list includes the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, a typical soft landing spot for ex-legislators. They meet about once a month but get paid $128,109 a year, more than they were paid as legislators, as the Sacramento Bee recently noted. Such ruling-class parasitism doesn’t help balance the budget. The governor also wants to eliminate the California Commission on the Status of Women, which began on the watch of his father,...

There are about 300 Commission working “hard” for the people of California. The Nursing Commission allows felons and perverts to continue to work in hospitals and the home. Then you have the Medical Board that allows doctors on drugs to continue to operate and treat patients. One of my favorites is the Hair Braiding Commission.. You know that only State “licensed” people should be allowed to braid your hair—the rest are amateurs. “On July 1, 1998, a pair of undercover police officers posing as husband and wife walked into Braids by Sabrina, a small shop in Compton, Calif. After the...

Gov. Christie proposes elimination of 300 N.J. boards, commissions Published: Friday, September 10, 2010, 4:26 PM Updated: Friday, September 10, 2010, 4:45 PM Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today released reports from his departments recommending the merger or elimination of about 300 boards and commissions — including many inactive or defunct groups created years ago, and some that have never met at all. At the same time, Christie signed an executive order — his 40th since taking office in January (PDF) — shuttering 60 inactive boards, including some created three decades ago. The report...

You would think that the roles and responsibilities would be clear and there would be a strong line between individuals who call themselves financial advisers and those who call themselves stock brokers. The obvious answer is that advisers give impartial advice based on the best interest of the client and brokers sell products as a third party. Advisers are sworn to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own, thanks to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In that case, what is a broker? The act also provides this definition. A broker is, “Any person engaged in the business of...

The government commission tasked with writing a public report to expose the causes of the financial crisis is keeping the structure of its own publishing deal private. On Aug. 3, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a presidential body, announced that it had chosen Little, Brown and Co. to publish its final report about the meltdown -- an anticipated and authoritative account pieced together by well-known journalist Matt Cooper. It did not mention, however, that the deal had unusual terms for the publication of a public document, including an agreement by Little, Brown to pay an advance to the government and...

In the 16 years since the federal death penalty was restored in 1994 — 16 years throughout which the United States has been ravaged by jihadist terror — the Justice Department has approved capital charges for exactly three defendants: Moussaoui and two of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombers. In each case, civilian juries rejected the death penalty. If Holder is saying there’s a better chance these savages will be executed if they are tried in the civilian system (and that is precisely what he’s implying), there is nothing to support that claim.

President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is meeting today as part of its efforts to craft recommendations by December on how best to address America's red-ink problem. Mr. Obama established the commission in February, saying debt and deficits can "hobble our economy" and "saddle every child in America with an intolerable burden." Yet the president's decision to establish a commission to address a problem he described as potentially catastrophic seems odd in light of his earlier criticism of commissions in general. As Ari Shapiro noted on National Public Radio today, the president mocked the notion of commissions...

Among the first to feel the effects of the nation’s health-care system overhaul are insurance salespeople, whose commissions for selling policies are themselves getting overhauled. The new law requires that insurers use at least 80% of the premiums to pay for medical care for patients rather than administrative costs and profit-taking. But many companies that sell health insurance to individuals and small businesses maintain a lower “medical loss ratio” because they use more of the premium to cover administrative expenses, including sales commissions.

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest warship on Saturday, a 379-feet (115.5- meter) aluminum three-hulled vessel built by General Dynamics Corp, one of two designs vying for billions of dollars of follow-on orders. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead told reporters as he traveled to the ceremony that the new class of fast, flexible shallow-water warships would be useful for a wide range of missions, including responding to humanitarian disasters like the earthquake in Haiti. Roughead said the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built by Lockheed Martin Corp, a more traditional steel monohull ship which...

Olympia Snowe, it seems safe to assume, is following the health care debate a bit more closely than the average American. So it is saying something that the Maine senator — a key figure in health care negotiations — admits she is stumped by the task of crafting a simple explanation for legislation of mind-numbing complexity. “If anybody can give me an easy, 30-second solution to this multitrillion-dollar problem, be my guest,” said Snowe, a moderate Republican.

Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the structure of financial regulation leaves in place the split between those regulators who supervise the trading of futures at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and those who supervise stock trading at the Securities Trading Association. And while there may be good reasons to keep the commissions separate, mostly likely none of those informed the Obama administration's decision. Instead it was probably just cold politicial calculation. Merging the commissions has long been a popular idea with reformers. It was proposed by Hank Paulson when he was Treasury Secretary, and it is supported by many who...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to blow up the boxes of government, and on Wednesday they obliged -- though not exactly as he envisioned. A legislative budget committee delayed action on many of Schwarzenegger's proposals for cutting waste, and instead took an ax to operations managed by the governor. They voted to get rid of entire departments and agencies under his authority. The committee voted to eliminate the Secretary of Education office, an appointed position that exists to help the governor on school issues. Lawmakers declared that the governor does not need such an office, as it overlaps with the...