Honesty first. Per-deal commission rates are NOT public (MLS-proprietary).
This is (1) the documented antitrust timeline and (2) an ESTIMATE of aggregate commission load at the
conventional rate, from public sales volume. It does not assert any Maui broker fixed prices. Proving an
agreement needs MLS data via the Real Estate Commission / DCCA-RICO or litigation discovery. Lobbying
(e.g., Bill 9) is NOT collusion (Noerr-Pennington).
The documented antitrust record (verified)
pre-2019Industry convention: a ~5-6% total commission, customarily split buyer/seller side, advertised on the MLS - the practice later challenged as an unlawful restraint.
Apr 2019Sitzer/Burnett (Burnett v. NAR et al.) filed in W.D. Missouri - homesellers allege the NAR/brokerage commission rules are price-fixing under the Sherman Act.
Mar 15 2024NAR agrees to settle for $418M + sweeping rule changes; brokerage co-defendants settle for hundreds of millions more.
Aug 17 2024NAR rule changes take effect: commissions no longer advertised on the MLS; written buyer-broker agreements required - the structural fix meant to restore price competition.
Estimated Maui commission load — the stakes (fill from public stats)
2008awaiting public sales figures (RAM/DBEDT)
2015awaiting public sales figures (RAM/DBEDT)
2020awaiting public sales figures (RAM/DBEDT)
2023awaiting public sales figures (RAM/DBEDT)
2025awaiting public sales figures (RAM/DBEDT)
The antitrust QUESTION: did the ~5-6% convention hold flat 2008→Aug-2024 (hallmark of a
fixed, non-competitive rate) and only move after the rule change? If RAM/MLS data shows rates stuck at
~6% regardless of competition, that is the pattern regulators examine — referable to DOJ Antitrust, the
HI Attorney General (HRS 480), and the Real Estate Commission (HRS 467 / DCCA-RICO).
📄 Some records on this page are thin or pending. They are public — under this jurisdiction’s own access law you can request them and send them back to turn a gap into a fact on the ledger.
🌺 ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi here is offered with humility and held under community review with ʻŌiwi resources at Maui County. See the glossary →