Montana

	Allows choice of brokerage services
	Allows brokers to offer rebates to consumers

The Antitrust Division helped preserve the benefits of free and open competition for Montana consumers in two recent instances:

• In August 2007, the Board of Realty Regulation adopted a new regulation prohibiting brokers from offering rebates, gifts, or promotional items to their clients. In response to an investigation by the Antitrust Division, the Board decided in April 2008 to reverse the rule and allow brokers to offer rebates to their customers.

• In August 2008, the Board of Realty Regulation proposed a regulation that would have required real estate licensees to participate in all aspects of the negotiations to buy or sell a home (including negotiating contracts, completing forms, and presenting offers and counteroffers), regardless of whether their customers wanted them to perform these tasks. The Antitrust Division wrote a letter to the Board of Realty Regulation opposing this rule because it would reduce consumer choice and innovation, and increase fees.
  
  In December 2008, the Board issued an amended version of the rule, which allows home buyers and sellers to waive these services in writing. On March 13, 2009, the Board adopted the amended rule, and it took effect upon publication in the Montana Administrative Register in May 2009.

Learn more about:

• Brokerage services: Discount Brokers Can Make Selling a Home Less Costly
• Rebates: Rebates Make Buying a Home Less Expensive

Antitrust Division documents:

Press release:

• Montana Board of Realty Regulation Permits Real Estate Brokers to Offer Rebates to Consumers (04/01/2008)

Comment letter:

• Letter to the Montana Board of Realty Regulation Re: Proposed Amendment and Adoption of ARM § 24.210.641 (09/04/2008)

Related documents on the Internet:

• Administrative Rule of Montana § 24.210.641(5)(z) prohibiting the payment of rebates
• Notice of Proposed Amendment to Administrative Rule § 24.210.641(5)(z) restoring the payment of rebates
• Notice of Amendment of Adminstrative Rule 24.210.641(5)(z) restoring the payment of rebates
• Notice of Proposed Amendment to Administrative Rules §§ 24.210.641(5)(m)-(p) permitting consumers to waive negotiation services
• Notice of Adoption of Amendment to Administrative Rules §§ 24.210.641(5)(m)-(p) permitting consumers to waive negotiation services

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