What Realtors® Should Expect After the Sitzer-Burnett Verdict The following is a Q&A with Curtis Bullock, CEO of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors®, on the Sitzer/Burnett class action verdict against the National Association of Realtors® and other brokerages and what it means to Realtors®.
Now that the verdict is in, what’s next? The ruling will be appealed. There are no immediate changes Realtors® are required to make as of today. I expect the fight to preserve our tried and tested orderly system of exchanging real estate to continue. Having said that, we can sharpen the saw and get better at certain things.
Is there a problem with a seller agreeing to pay a commission to a listing agent and the listing agent splitting that commission with a buyer’s agent? This is the crux of the lawsuit. In practice, this approach has stood the test of time. Moreover, there is nothing wrong about a broker offering to share a portion of that commission with the buyer’s broker in a transparent manner at an amount both parties agree upon. Some critics argue that this system creates an inherent conflict 18 | Salt Lake Realtor ® | November 2023
because the seller and buyer have differing interests. While I agree there is some transactional conflict – i.e., seller wants the most money possible and the buyer wants to pay the least amount possible – there is one overarching common goal all parties (including the buyer, seller and their agents) share: that is to successfully close the transaction. This brilliant system of putting fierce competitors together to pursue a common goal simply works and we will continue to advocate for it. It has incentivized competitors to work with each other and do it in the spirit of collaboration for decades. Who wins? The consumer.
What should Realtors® do going forward? As of today, Realtors® will continue conducting business as they always have. They will not need to necessarily provide more value to their clients because they already do. They simply need to be better at articulating their
