Antitrust suit against Realtors can proceed

The National Assn. of Realtors lost a bid to dismiss a U.S. government antitrust lawsuit challenging its limits on access to multiple listings by consumers who use lower-cost Internet brokers.

The ruling by a federal judge in Chicago lets the Justice Department proceed to pretrial fact-finding to try to prove that the Realtors and member brokers engaged in an “ongoing contract, combination or conspiracy” to restrain competition.

U.S. District Judge Mark R. Filip rejected the Realtors’ argument that the government had no case after the trade association in May 2005 changed the policy that limited online access to listings by customers of brokers who operate “virtual office websites.”