Summary
If ReMax is prohibited from charging for these marketing rights it will certainly impact their profitability. Many arrangements of this nature will be challenged in this market environment.
Analysis
ReMax has made an interesting argument that is reported in this article. It is there contention that they are not subject to RESPA since they do not work directly with the buyer and are not in fact the broker/agent. However it is important to keep in mind that if the goal of ReMax marketing these services to their franchisees is for them to use in their client interactions then they are certainly acting as a middleman for a RESPA violation.
It is readily apparent that taking money for a referral and then bundling these referrals and reselling them to agents whose use would constitute a RESPA violation is inappropriate. I expect that we will see further investigations of this nature as the government and industry groups look at the practices that lead to the bursting of the bubble and the associated pain.
