On May 27, 2008, NAR and the U.S. Department of Justice reached a favorable settlement, concluding a two-year DOJ investigation (followed by two and a half years of litigation) regarding NAR’s multiple listing policy as it pertained to the display of listings from the MLS on brokers’ virtual office Web sites, or VOWs.

Final Judgment Approved DOJ-NAR

What the settlement accomplishes

The proposed terms (PDF 28K) seem to be a win for NAR, REALTORS®, and consumers, and confirms that MLS members must be actively engaged in real estate brokerage (PDF 32K) by actually helping people buy or sell homes.

This will ensure that MLSs are used for what they were originally intended to do — to help real estate professionals find buyers for people who want to sell their homes. NAR has also agreed to adopt a revised Virtual Office Web site policy (PDF 36K) that NAR will request MLSs to adopt.

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