Home Sellers Take On the Realtors Cartel

The 1.5 million-member National Association of Realtors spent $81.7 million on political lobbying in 2022, more than any other business group. Behind the teachers unions, it ranks as the most powerful special interest in the country. Though it claims to help consumers, it is a cartel that seeks primarily to enrich its members by expanding government control over middle-class Americans’ largest source of wealth: their homes.

Consider Burnett v. NAR, a federal class-action suit that Missouri home sellers have brought against the association. The case, which went to trial last week, presents an existential threat to the cartel. If the plaintiffs prevail, home buyers and sellers could save $120 billion in fees each year. Half of the country’s real-estate agents who work as buyer brokers might have to find another, more economically productive line of work.