Focus On Pittsburgh

I am still surprised that this MLS still won’t allow agents to have their own home searches on their personal websites, but I guess this latest ruling from the FCC has helped them step closer to the 21st Century.  It is about sharing information, not withholding it and uber controlling it.  Collaboration and Web 2.0…wake up!

“This case demonstrates that the Commission has no tolerance for attempts by those who run an MLS to ban nontraditional listings or limit the use of discounting in brokerage services,” said David P. Wales, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “We have challenged such conduct in a number of cases in the last few years because it results in higher prices for consumers, and we will continue to prosecute such conduct wherever we find it.”

West Penn is the only MLS that serves metropolitan Pittsburgh and surrounding counties, according to the FTC. It is owned by its membership, which consists of more than 6,800 real estate professionals in the area. Membership in West Penn is necessary for a broker to provide effective residential real estate brokerage services to buyers and sellers of real estate in the area, the FTC alleges.

Read the rest of the story on the FCC website.

Sooner or later…they will get rid of their VCRs and thermal facsimile machines as well.