Michael Osborne was quoted in a Financial Post article discussing a class action lawsuit that alleges major brokers and real estate organizations in Toronto implemented rules that essentially stifled competition for buyer brokerage services, resulting in higher prices. According to Michael, from a competition point of view, there is a potential issue pertaining to the mechanism wherein brokerages must become members of CREA and TRREB to operate. Essentially, though Broker A and Broker B have no direct written agreement between them, by aligning with an association’s rules, they can be seen by the Competition Bureau to be operating under an indirect “hub and spoke” agreement.

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