Private listings push opens the door to discrimination 

Now that NAR has spoken on Clear Cooperation and offered a companion policy that allows delayed marketing, the brokerage industry's push into private exclusives is likely to continue. But how will this trend affect independent Black real estate brokers and consumers?

Real Estate News recently spoke with Dr. Courtney Johnson Rose, the president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers — one of the nation's oldest and largest trade groups for Black real estate professionals. The organization is gearing up to host its NAREB Building Black Wealth Tour, an event that Dr. Rose said will offer "classes on listings and the value of a real estate professional."

Ahead of the April 12 event, Dr. Rose discussed the potential outcomes of an industry-wide brokerage battle in which inventory is used competitively — not cooperatively.

What consequences could we see from the push into private listings? How does this trend affect consumers and brokers of color?

We definitely see the Clear Cooperation Policy as an opportunity for transparency. Several of our members, including myself, are independent brokers. We've been very successful as an independent brokerage, and we rely on the MLS for marketing. But the idea of making listings exclusive and adding more pocket listings could lead to discrimination.

If I'm a seller and I only want my listing to be advertised to people of a specific demographic, I can do that through a pocket listing, or I can do that through an exclusive listing — I do see potential for fair housing issues. This can set us back.

There's a lot of danger with making adjustments to this policy. I'm not saying it doesn't need to be adjusted at all, but I think we have to be careful and focus on having a more competitive environment that allows buyers and agents to access all the available listings equally and level the playing field.

Some brokerages say consumers are asking to list and sell off-market. Is there anything to this?

I just don't think that that's correct advertising and marketing. I think that this is a sales tactic that is not accurate.

One thing that's very important to remember is that the MLS doesn't force you to have an open house. The MLS doesn't force you to show pictures of every part of your home. You can do all exterior pictures of your home if you're a very private person. The MLS does not force you to actually do those things. The MLS requires that you put your property address and sales price in the system.

What can independent brokerages do if big brokerages go all in on private exclusives? Will they fight back or have to go work for the larger firms?

It seems like those opposing Clear Cooperation are the big brokerages. I know that Compass and some of the other big guys have definitely taken this on. But what it essentially does is, in some cases, it could force brokerages into feeling the pressure of thinking, "Well, if this is the way that the market is going, do I have to join one of these to be able to compete?" And when you think about it, it's so counterproductive, because what it's going to eventually create is another MLS.

Anywhere will battle it out with Compass, and they'll battle it out with eXp, and then one will get bigger than the other, and then RE/MAX will get in there, and then they may merge with somebody else, and then at the end of the day, you're back to one or two systems. So why would we do that, and take a 10-year cycle for this to happen? It's definitely a money play. At the end of the day, I think that independent brokers and consumers suffer.

The reality is, the data shows that consumers get more money for their homes in a more transparent marketplace where everyone can compete, so there's really no logic to it other than the big brokers want to monopolize the actual market. The only benefit is it allows you to discriminate, and to limit the marketplace that looks at your home, and who has the ability to buy your home — and it gives the big brokers a competitive advantage. It doesn't help consumers.