New Mexico Real Estate Brokers Have an Ally in The Justice Department

Proposed Rule Amendments Would Restrict Consumer Choice and Cause New Mexicans to Pay More for Real Estate Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice advised the New Mexico Real Estate Commission to reject proposed amendments to the New Mexico administrative code that would limit a consumer's freedom to choose which real estate services to buy and could cause New Mexico consumers to pay more for real estate brokerage services.

Under current rules, New Mexico home sellers and buyers can choose between a full-service package of real estate brokerage services and a fee-for-service option that allows consumers to purchase their choice of services. While the rules currently require brokers to provide some negotiation and closing assistance to clients, home sellers may choose not to receive certain services through a written waiver. The proposed amendment would remove this waiver provision so that consumers would no longer have control over which services they receive and pay for.

The Department of Justice's letter also urged the commission not to define Virtual Office Websites (VOWs) as advertising because it would stifle innovation and harm consumers. A state-imposed rule that defined VOWs as advertising could enable traditional brokers to block the customers of their VOW-operating competitors from using the competitor's website to review the same set of listings that traditional brokers deliver to their customers by other means.