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U.S. Federal Court Finds Website Listing Properties for Sale does not Require Brokers Licence
A federal court judge in Sacramento has recently ruled that a California law requiring websites to obtain a real estate broker's licence in order to publish real estate advertising and information violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The plaintiff in the case was New-York based ForSaleByOwner.com, an online service that charges a flat fee to property owners who want to advertise their properties for sale on the website. The website also provides real estate information on inspections, insurance and other typical property transfer details and offers a database of vendors that provide related real estate services such as appraisers, mortgage companies and title insurance companies. However, outside of the posting of a listing, ForSaleByOwner.com does not facilitate the purchase and sale of real estate in any manner.
The legislation in California requires anyone who charges an advance fee for listing a property for sale to be licensed as a real estate broker. Newspapers are expressly exempted from the licensing requirement even where they operate an online website that provides services similar to those provided by ForSaleByOwner.com.
In finding that the California law violated the First Amendment, the court stated that "[T]here appears to be no justification whatsoever for any distinction between the two mediums", referring to newspapers and the Internet service offered by ForSaleByOwner.com.
For additional information, visit:
http://www.ij.org/media/first_amendment/real_estate/index.html