Chris Haggerty is a past president of the Austin Board of Realtors. She considers many of the board's members to be personal friends. But when the board threatened to wall off her new company's access to MLS listings after being approved for membership, she was shocked.

"I think the objection was that we had found a more efficient way to do business, and it gave us a competitive edge," said Haggerty. "Our business model affords us some economies that make it cheaper to buy or sell a home. That is the point of e-commerce - that economies can be passed on to consumers."

Haggerty never dreamed she would be facing her friends in a federal court of law, but face them she did when the Austin Board of Realtors® (ABoR) and its subsidiary, the Austin/Central Texas Realty Information Service (ACTRIS) filed a lawsuit against e-Realty.com, charging the discount Internet broker with infringement of trademark law and infringement of ABoR's copyright of its multiple listing service data for posting the MLS listings on its intranet.

e-Realty countered with the filing of an injunction to allow the company to continue access to the listings until the case could come to court. On March 21, the parties went before Federal Judge James Nowlin who heard arguments from both ABOR and e-Realty.com.

A reporter for dbusiness.com witnessed what he called the crumbling of the Austin board's case. According to his report, the board's lawyer Patrick Keel "almost fainted as the judge questioned him about why Internet brokers should be treated differently than others," and point-blank asked Keel whether his client had changed the organization's rules just because it (e-Realty) was a competitive threat. Keel didn't answer, but had to be led to his chair by colleagues, invoking a court recess. Later, Nowlin drew his own conclusion.

"Yes," said Nowlin, "the Austin Board of Realtors tried to drive out an Internet competitor by denying e-realty.com access to the board's master list of houses for sale, its Multi-Listing Service."

"Surely the judge would agree the board has a right to make its own rules," said Keel, reported dbusiness.com.

"Rules have to be reasonable and legitimate. And not for the sole purpose of keeping out competition," Nowlin said. "Fear of technology is driving this case."

"I have a lot of sympathy for innovation," he added pointing to an obvious irony. "The same Realtors who fear e-commerce have made a good living in an Austin market made vital by no small number of e-commerce dollars."

Judge Nowlin upheld the injunction, allowing e-Realty continued access to the MLS database and instructed the two parties to mediate. If an agreement isn't reached, the parties will reconvene in federal court May 12th 2000.

In a prepared statement, Austin Board of Realtors President Diane Kennedy announced the board's intention to stand firm, saying, “The ABOR firmly maintains its position that e-Realty.com is now, and always has been, in violation of the governing rules of our organization, as well as federal copyright law. We gather and maintain the MLS information, and we own that information. e-Realty is breaking our rules and, we believe, breaking the law by posting our information to their website. This fight is only about protecting our intellectual property. Per Judge Nowlin’s request, we will work with eRealty to try to resolve this, but we will not surrender our right of ownership over this data.”

Tomorrow: Part II - The Austin Board's side - Why the MLS Data Is Ours

Published: March 23, 2000

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.