In
a
court
filing
on
Thursday,
the


National
Association
of
Realtors
said
it
will
appeal
the
D.C.
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
ruling
that
the


Department
of
Justice
could
reopen
its
investigation
into
the
trade
group. 

The
decision
to
appeal
to
the
Supreme
Court
comes
after
the
appeals
court

denied
NAR’s
request
for
a
rehearing
in
July. 

The

appeals
court’s
decision
overturned
the
ruling
of
District
Court
Judge
Timothy
Kelly,
who
ruled

in
January
2023
that
the
terms
of
an
earlier
settlement
reached
by
the
the
DOJ
and
NAR
ending
the
department’s
investigation
into
the
trade
group
were
still
valid,
and
allowing
the
investigation
to
continue
would
take
away
the
benefits
NAR
had
negotiated
in
the
original
settlement. 

The
DOJ appealed
the
ruling in
March
2024
and
filed
its first
brief in
early
June.

The
two
parties
reached
the
initial
settlement
in
2020,
ending
the
DOJ’s
investigation
into
NAR’s
listing
and agent
compensation
policies. The
settlement
proposed
at
the
time
included
requirements
for
NAR
to
boost
transparency
about
broker
commissions
and
to
stop
misrepresenting
that
buyer
broker
services
are
free.
In
exchange
for
NAR’s
compliance,
the
DOJ
said
it
would
close
the
investigation.

However,
the
DOJ,
under
new
leadership
in
the
Biden
administration,
withdrew
the
settlement in
July
2021,
stating
that
the
terms
of
the
agreement
prevent
regulators
from
continuing
to
investigate
certain
association
rules
that
they
feel
harm
buyers
and
sellers.

NAR
filed
a petition in
September
2021
to
set
aside
or
modify
the
DOJ’s
probes
into
the
trade
group.

According
to
the
filing,
NAR
intends
to
file
its
writ
of
certiorari
to
the
Supreme
Court
by
October
10,
2024.
Additionally,
the
filing
notes
that
the
DOJ
has
agreed
to
“significantly
narrow
the
documents
it
seeks
in
response”
to
its
civil
investigative
demand. 

In
response,
the
filing
details
that
NAR
will
produce
documents
related
to
the
Moehrl
and
Sitzer/Burnett
commission
lawsuits
by
Sept.
30,
2024,
and
other
document
related
to
its
Clear
Cooperation
Policy,
which
included
the
Participation
Rule
at
the
center
of
the
commission
lawsuits,
a
month
after
at
Supreme
Court
rules
against
NAR
or
by
Nov.
12,
2024,
if
NAR
does
not
file
its
writ
of
certiorari.

In
filings
in
the
Nosalek
suit,
which
the
DOJ
became
involved
in,
in
late
September
2023,
the
department
has

made
it
clear
that
it
does
not
support

cooperative
compensation
and
that
it
does
not
want
to
see
offers
of
buyer
broker
compensation

“anywhere.”

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