To meet the spirit of clear cooperation, what should a member of the National Association of REALTORS® do?
Always cooperate
Cooperate unless it is NOT in the seller’s best interest.
Never cooperate
Promote standardized commission structures
A licensee decides to stop doing business with a local mortgage company that is charging clients hefty fees. The licensee convinces the buyer brokers who show her listing to follow suit. What is this an example of?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangement
Which of the following is the defining characteristic of a per se antitrust violation?
Boycotting
Collusion among the parties
No intent needs to be proven
Price fixing
If competitors agree to do this, what action is an antitrust violation?
Increase choices for consumers
Increase the number of competitors in the field
Join a professional association
Restrict choices for consumers
Which of the following is an example of price fixing?
A brokerage requires all licensees to offer a fair cooperative brokerage fee.
Three brokerages agree to purchase office supplies together to obtain a bulk discount.
Three brokerages determine a standard commission rate.
Three brokerages discuss the compensation of associated independent contractor licensees.
What’s an antitrust violation’s central element?
Conspiracy
Fraud
Greed
Profit
In light of the NAR Clear Cooperation policy, do sellers still have the right to exclude their property from MLS marketing?
No
Only in seller markets
Perhaps
Yes
According to the DOJ, which type of antitrust violation is an agreement to establish or adhere to uniform price discounts?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangements
Two real estate firms in one small town agreed to charge the same commission rate to avoid the possibility of clients selecting a firm based simply on price. What specific federal legislation prohibits this?
The Clayton Act of 1914
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
The Restraint of Trade Act of 1894
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
A brokerage offers flat fee, menu-based services. Two other firms decide to not show any of the brokerage’s listings and to prohibit showings from its buyers to drive it out of business. What is this an example of?
A tie-in arrangement
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
A licensee is found guilty of price fixing. What did the licensee do?
Agreed with a competitor to charge a specific amount.
Charged a fixed commission price her broker asked her to use.
Charged a separate co-op fee for different brokerages.
Deviated from the standard commission rate.
Which of these statements most accurately represents existing federal antitrust legislation?
The Clayton Act supports the Sherman Antitrust Act’s purpose of prohibiting monopolies by prohibiting mergers or acquisitions that would create a monopoly.
The Federal Trade Commission Act established the Sherman and Clayton acts to prevent collusive activities that limit competition.
The Federal Trade Commission Act prevents one large firm from acquiring another similar firm that would result in a restraint of trade.
The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to supplement the Clayton Act in an effort to prevent mergers that create monopolies.
A licensee is unhappy with a company’s products and recommends another licensee avoid the company. The second licensee agrees and spreads the word among other licensees. What’s this an example of?
A tie-in arrangement
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Which of the following is an example of a tie-in arrangement?
A business offers add-on services for its best customers.
A business requires its clients to also purchase service.
Competing businesses agree to similar pricing strategies.
Competing companies agree to not do business with a third.
Two competing firms are found guilty of illegal market allocation. Which of the following scenarios must be true?
The two firms are located in different parts of the state.
The two firms are owned by the same umbrella company.
The two firms have agreed not to compete in one another’s markets.
The two firms have agreed to set commission rates and/or co-op fees at a specific amount.
In general, NAR’s policy on buyer cooperation is that ______.
Commission must be split 50/50
It is always required
It’s rarely required
It’s required if it’s in the best interest of the seller
Which agency prohibits unfair acts, practices, or methods of competition, and enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws nationally?
Attorney general’s office
Consumer Reports
Federal Trade Commission
National Bar Association
Which act created an agency to investigate antitrust practices?
Attorney General Act
Clayton Act
Federal Trade Commission Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
Which of the following listings would be required to adhere to the Clear Cooperation policy?
A retail lease
A single-family resale
Commercial office building sale
Homes for sale in a brand-new development
Which of the following is an example of illegal market allocation?
One brokerage maps out a plan to dominate the eastern part of the city.
Two brokerages agree to divide the city in half, each working its own half.
Two brokerages each discuss with their licensees where the most lucrative deals can be found.
Two brokerages each try to win the million-dollar listings.
A complaint has just been received by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Citizen Complaint Center. What’s the first step in the process?
A formal investigation is conducted.
A preliminary review is conducted.
Event details are gathered from the complainant.
The complaint is referred to legal staff for research.
Which type of antitrust violation occurs when providing one service is made dependent on the customer or client obtaining another recommended service?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangement
Which of these is a central element of an antitrust violation?
A contract
Customer relationships
High stakes
Interstate dealings
An antitrust complaint has been received by the U.S. Department of Justice. After review, it’s decided that a formal investigation will be conducted. When must the complainant be notified of the investigation?
Never
Within 15 days of the complaint filing
Within 30 days of the complaint filing
Within 60 days of the complaint filing
Which one of the following is an example of group boycotting?
Jamie purchases billboards in Peyton Heights and Crestview, but not in Sandlot Valley.
One Plus Brokerage offers to beat any competitor’s commission rate by 1%. Three competing brokers agree to stop doing business with One Plus Brokerage; no matter how low One Plus’s rate is, no one will want to list with them if the listings don’t get showings.
Penny Printing produces business cards. Unhappy with the quality it received, Beta Brokerage has decided to no longer purchase its business cards from Penny Printing.
Tara isn’t happy with the service she received when placing ads in a local publication. She decides to no longer advertise with it.
Licensees from different firms are tired of competing for the same listings. They divide up the city into territories so they don’t step on each other’s toes. What type of antitrust violation is this?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangements
Which of the following is true about tie-in arrangements?
They involve market allocation.
They involve price fixing.
They’re an antitrust violation.
They’re a type of mortgage fraud.
Neighboring firms agree that leads in one part of town will all be sent to only one of the firms. What type of antitrust violation is this?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangements
Which of these situations represents an illegal tie-in arrangement?
A licensee agrees to rebate a portion of the commission earned when her buyer client buys a house if the client also lists her current home with the licensee.
A licensee gives buyer clients a list of home inspectors and encourages them to call several who are both on and not on the list to find one who meets their needs.
A licensee tells her buyer client she won’t perform any brokerage services for him unless he signs an agency agreement.
A licensee tells his seller client he’ll only represent her if the client uses a specific company to close her transaction.
According to NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which of the following would be considered a private marketing method for a new listing?
A private multi-brokerage network
Office exclusive announcement
Social media announcements
Website ads
Business is booming for a new brokerage firm. The other firms in the area are unhappy about the cooperating split the firm offers, and they all agree to not show its listings to their buyer clients. What is this an example of?
Blockbusting
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Steering
Fair, aggressive competition ______.
Creates fewer options for consumers and more work for businesses
Generates better products, prices, and services
Negatively affects the economy, raises prices, and lowers quality
Produces mediocre products, higher prices, and poor service
Several brokerages in a certain area agree to stop running advertisements in a local publication. What type of antitrust violation is this?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangement
A licensee is trying to drum up business for a friend’s mortgage company. She offers to discount her commission rate if her clients use her friend’s mortgage company for their financing. What is this an example of?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangement
Two large local brokerage firms agreed to lower their commission rates to the same amount—approximately 1% less than any other firm in town. What about this situation makes it a per se antitrust violation?
The agreement between the two firms
The dollar amount the competitors lost
The marketing efforts the two firms used
The size of the two brokerage firms
Two firms charge the same commission rates. For this to be price fixing, what must occur?
An agreement between competing firms to standardize commission rates
An agreement between individual licensees in a single firm to fix commission rates
An offer of a cooperating brokerage commission
A public announcement of commission rates charged
Five brokerage firms charge approximately the same listing commission and pay approximately the same cooperating commission to the selling broker. The commission splits within each firm are also similar. Is this an antitrust violation?
No. The similarities between commission rates may be suspect, but the similarity between commission splits doesn’t matter.
Not necessarily. The fact that the firms’ commission rates and splits are similar doesn’t necessarily mean they agreed to fix those values.
Yes. The fact that the firm’s commission rates and splits are so similar is a restraint of trade.
Yes. The firms’ internal commission splits can be the same, but they can’t all charge the same commission rate.
How may licensees market office exclusive listings?
Announcements to other licensees affiliated with the same brokerage firm
A page on the firm’s website
Emails to a curated list
Private listing network
Which of the following listings does the Clear Cooperation policy address?
As-is listings
Pocket listings
Quick sales
Short sales
Brent’s seller client doesn’t want to publicly market her property, so she asks Brent to use whatever private marketing avenues available to him. Which of the following could Brent utilize?
Announce the listing exclusive to licensees in his office
Market the property on a private multi-brokerage network
Place website ads
Send a mailing to his email list
Which type of antitrust violation occurs when real estate firms agree to divide their market so they don’t compete with one another?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangements
At an association meeting, a group discusses ways to deal with a new firm that charges a flat $500 to list properties. Why should a licensee refuse to take part in this discussion?
The group seems bent on creating a tie-in arrangement.
The licensee needs to develop the model without help.
This conversation seems to be turning into a discussion of market allocation.
This conversation sounds like it might become an antitrust violation.
Even though Gideon’s seller client does not want his home marketed publicly, what is Gideon still required to do, per the NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy?
File the listing with the MLS
Follow his broker’s policies on public marketing regardless of his client’s wishes
Market the home publicly anyway without telling his client
Use social media only as a marketing method
A licensee tells a potential client that all licensees in the area charge a 2% commission fee. What antitrust violation does this imply?
A tie-in arrangement
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Which of the following is exempt from the Clear Cooperation policy?
Commercial listings
Condo listings
Historic home listings
Vacation home listings
According to the Department of Justice, which type of antitrust agreement is an agreement between competitors to eliminate discounts to all customers or certain types of customers?
Group boycotting
Market allocation
Price fixing
Tie-in arrangements
If a complaint with the Citizens Complaint Center raises concern that antitrust law may have been violated, to where will the complaint be referred?
Attorney general
Court of appeals
Division legal staff
State supreme court
As a real estate professional, you must guard against ______.
Consumers who falsely accuse you of an antitrust violation
Even the perception of an antitrust violation
Only explicit evidence of an antitrust violation
Only those whose actions directly harm your ability to compete