Exclusive | New Yorkers to benefit from legislation that bans shady, secret home listings

Secret home sales could be history. Big Apple real estate professionals are hailing new state legislation that aims to ban exclusive, hush-hush property listings that leave sellers clueless and buyers locked out.“Private listings primarily benefit brokers rather than consumers,” said Dolly Lenz Real Estate agent Jenny Lenz.“Our responsibility is to serve our clients’ best interests, whether they are buyers or sellers, and broader market exposure creates the strongest outcome.”The New York state Senate passed the “Fair and Transparent Real Estate Listing Act” — sponsored by State Sen.

Nathalia Fernandez — on Monday.It ends private home listings marketed to an exclusive audience, unless the seller or landlord signs an explicit disclosure form acknowledging the risks of withholding a listing from public marketing, which could be fewer offers and/or a lower sales price.High-net-worth individuals and celebrities use quiet listings to avoid the Paparazzi or looky-loos.

People involved in messy life events like a divorce, use them to prevent nosy neighbors and the media from meddling in their affairs. Also, by keeping properties private, brokerages can double their commissions by using their own agents on both sides of a deal, and they can build a data monopoly.“Some of the largest real estate brokerages have a strong business incentive to increase the number of off-market and private listings they control,” said David Schlamm, founder and CEO of City Connections.“Their objective is to position their own platforms as the primary destination for consumers seeking access to available inventory.”The National Association of Realtors passed a policy in 2019 banning pocket listings nationally.

But New York City doesn’t play by NAR’s rules and the Big Apple lacks a single, standardized multiple listing service.“If consumers cannot see a listing, they may never know the property was available in the first place,” Lenz added, “which creates ...