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NAR adds home improvement contractor’s app to Realtor benefits

Housing Wire

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Wednesday the addition of a home repair estimate app to its package of NAR Realtor Benefits for members. Second Century Ventures , NAR’s strategic investment division, included Curbio in its “REACH” startup growth program in 2019.

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GSEs will not count buyer agent commissions as IPCs

Housing Wire

The GSEs noted that this guidance was not an update to their selling guides but a clarification on the treatment of seller-paid real estate agent fees. Moving forward, the GSEs say that if these fees continue to be “customarily paid by the property seller according to local convention, they will not be subject to financing concessions limits.”

Buyers 527
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Chuck E. Cheese, MLS listing books and the correct pronunciation of ‘Realtor’ were on the table during HousingWire’s commission lawsuit debate

Housing Wire

“I was sitting on my couch and I saw Michael on CNBC calling us a cartel, saying that we take money that doesn’t belong to us, and I was infuriated at that rhetoric and I was infuriated at what that infers about Realtors,” Lamacchia said. “It It dehumanizes Realtors and turns us into money-making machines.”

Realtors 422
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CHLA urges FHA’s equal treatment of homebuyers despite commission status

Housing Wire

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) this week submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that urges the agency to “provide comparable down payment treatment for FHA borrowers, regardless of whether or not the seller is willing to pay the home buyer broker commission,” according to an announcement by the organization.

Sellers 386
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California commission suit alleges collusion in the City of Angels

Housing Wire

The suit, known as Fierro, after its lead plaintiff Gael Fierro, a Californian home seller, accuses the real estate industry of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. Patrick Thurber, a California home seller, is an additional named plaintiff in the suit. It was filed on Wednesday in U.S.

Realtors 511
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Nevada real estate firms hit with second commission lawsuit

Housing Wire

A second home seller in Nevada has filed a lawsuit alleging that real estate industry players in the state have colluded to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. District Court in Las Vegas by Nevada home seller Angela Boykin. The copycat commission lawsuit was filed on Friday in U.S. 16, 2020, and the present.

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NAR, MBA ask for clarification on underwriting rules

Housing Wire

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) are asking federal housing officials to confirm their treatment of interested party contributions (IPCs) to home purchase transactions. Sellers or buyers can pay the buyer’s agent’s fees. NAR also sent a letter to the U.S.