Case Summary
The Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors, Inc. settled charges that it violated the antitrust laws by adopting rules that withheld valuable benefits of the Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) it controlled from consumers who chose to enter into non-traditional listing contracts with real estate brokers. According to the complaint, the association's rules or policies state that information about properties will not be made available on popular real estate Web sites unless the listing contracts are Exclusive Right to Sell Listings. These policies, when implemented, prevented properties with non-traditional listing contracts from being displayed on a wide range of public Web sites.The consent order settling the FTC’s charges will prohibit Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors from discriminating against non-traditional listing arrangements.