The national press is already buying the DOJ's version of why it filed a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, and Realtors are once again in the position of having to explain to no one who will listen that there's a difference between listings to buy and listings for display.

The Wall Street Journal can always be counted on to pile on when it's Realtors who are being criticized, and Friday's story, "U.S. Sues Realtors, Claims Web Rules Limit Discounting," by John R. Wilke and James R. Hagerty is no exception. The two journalists report that the DOJ lawsuit filed against the NAR "targets the group's bylaws, which allow members to withhold online listings from other brokers in a local market."

That sounds like brokers won't let other brokers have access to the listings, doesn't it? But that's not what the new NAR policy says at all.

The policy says that brokers can opt out of displaying their listings on other brokers' websites. If they opt out, they can't display other brokers listings, either. And if they opt-out, they have to go through a troublesome disclosure process for every listing, making it unlikely that brokers will massively opt-out the way the DOJ and the press is being told.

The point is that the listings are still available to all participating brokers. If a consumer wants to see 123 Peach Street, that listing is always available online and can be emailed to the customer, but it might not necessarily be available as part of the ILD package.

Brokers don't owe online display to other brokers, especially when they are already cooperating by sharing the details of their listings. They are still online, but are only available to send individually to clients, not en masse to help brokers get customers.

But the reporters aren't interested in the semantics. They'd have to learn how the real estate industry works, and once they do, they would see there's no story. It's easier to bleed the lead, or shave a few fine points to get readers' attention.

In a CBSMarketwatch story, also published Sept. 9, 2005, journalist Kristen Gerencher also gets it wrong. "'The ability to withhold some listings represents an effort to "punish" web-based Realtors for bringing competitive pressure and discounting commissions,' said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, a coalition of ecommerce companies including eRealty, now owned by Prudential."

Huh? Prudential? The Rock? Prudential is punishing -- itself?

That's why the misinformation that is being spread about the media is so frustrating. The DOJ and news media make it sound like traditional brokers are withholding listings from the MLS. This simply isn't true, although if they keep pushing, battle-weary brokers could withdraw their memberships and then, where would consumers be?

Without an MLS, there is no cooperation between brokers and consumers would have to go back to the dark ages of real estate where brokers only represent sellers and show only their own listings, because cooperative rules don't exist anymore. This is perfectly legal by the way - as that is how many markets, including New York City, still operate.

The DOJ can't force Realtors to cooperate any more than they can force Bank of America and Citicorp to share their bank vaults.

First, most traditional brokers operate websites where they can conduct business in a virtual environment. Second, MLSs are virtual, so the listings are stored on servers. Any broker can access them for their clients. What the complainants are upset about is that some brokers won't make the listings available for display on other brokers' websites. Third, according to state law, brokers don't have to display listings where they don't want to. No broker owes another broker a business model. Fourth, any broker who wants to serve a client can show them any listing in the MLS.

RE/MAX chief legal officer Geoff Lewis explains, "Although the ILD policy contains a much more restrictive ability of a broker to opt out of providing listings for Internet display, a broker cannot opt out of providing listings to an MLS in which the broker participates. Additionally, the penalties and disclosure requirements imposed by the new ILD policy on a broker who does opt out make it virtually certain that it will not occur. In any event, the ILD policy empowers a seller to override a broker's decision to opt out by requiring the broker to provide the seller's listing to all other brokers for display on the internet."

Are the journalists deliberately making an error, or are they getting bad information?

"If you're a Realtor and I go to you and can only get half the listings, and then I go down the street to another Realtor who can show me all of them... think about how frustrated you'd be if you missed homes that fit all your price range and schools and neighborhood preferences," DelBianco told CBSMarketwatch. "The Internet is very disruptive and it brings into question the whole value proposition of the national chains. It's up to the national chains now to use the Internet to compete and become more efficient. I think they can do that, and so it's disappointing that they've sought to prevent innovation and competition with this rule."

Excuse me, but didn't the CBSMarketwatch reporter write that eRealty had been purchased by Prudential? Why does she think Prudential bought eRealty? Is Prudential supposed to be preventing innovation and competition with its own subsidiary?

As usual, the national media doesn't quote a single traditional broker in its stories. Not one has been interviewed. If they were interviewed, most would be happy to explain that they also operate on the Internet, publish websites and share listings online.

Could it be that the line between Internet-based and traditional brokers simply doesn't exist anymore, and that attempts to paint them as rivals is simply ridiculous? Where the rivalry truly exists is between any broker and companies who want to use the broker's listings for a purpose other than what MLS rules state -- to list and sell real estate and accept cooperation. Not to provide lead generations. Not to provide referrals.

By the same token, those companies aren't defined.

RE/MAX International recently announced a new initiative for its website, Remax.com, whereby it will provide home buyers and sellers the ability to search virtually all residential property listings, including those of its competitors, by creating a national collection of ILD broker websites. Would such a site have any value if the RE/MAX brokers intended to withdraw their listings from ILD? If they did, there would be no listings but their own to display.

"NAR's new ILD policy and the upcoming RE/MAX website are designed to give the consumer what they want: Easy access to all property listings via the Internet," defends Lewis.

A furious Dave Liniger, founder of RE/MAX International says, "RE/MAX advises all of its brokers to share their listings with all other brokers. That's what our industry has always been about because that is what best serves the customer. We have always shared listings with other brokers, including discount brokers, and we will continue to do so."

"The DOJ is being spurred on by Internet companies who have no intention of engaging in the real estate brokerage business," he continues. "They want access to our listings so they can advertise them in order to attract referrals they can sell back to us. These companies add no value to the transaction, only cost that is ultimately paid by the consumer. They are like the guy who shows up at a pot-luck dinner bringing only a fork."

"The DOJ is attempting to paint our industry as being afraid of the Internet and anti-competitive," the RE/MAX chairman commented. "Nothing could be further from the truth. All the DOJ needs to do is go on the Internet and look for themselves. For many years, the vast majority of brokers and agents have had websites that allow a customer to search all of the property listings of every broker on the local MLS. Tens of thousands of these websites exist.

Show me one other industry where every company displays on its website the entire inventory of each one of its competitors. Our customers are being well-served. NAR's new ILD policy facilitates this and therefore it is pro-competitive and pro-consumer."

Published: September 12, 2005

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. 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. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.