Thomas Barnett - Department of Justice

Thomas Barnett is Assistant Attorney General. According to whitehouse.gov: Thomas O. Barnett was confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice, on February 10, 2006. Mr. Barnett became the Antitrust Division's Acting Assistant Attorney General effective June 25, 2005 and previously served as the Division's Deputy Assistant Attorney General for civil enforcement, a position occupied since April 18, 2004. Prior to joining the Antitrust Division, Mr. Barnett was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling, where he served as Vice Chair of the firm's Antitrust and Consumer Protection Practice Group. At Covington & Burling, Barnett provided counsel on corporate transactions and licensing arrangements in the airline, chemical, construction aggregate, defense, hospital, petroleum, pharmaceutical and other industries. Mr. Barnett is experienced in antitrust litigation and, among others, in antitrust issues involving intellectual property, e-commerce, sports law, and corporate compliance programs. From 1989 to 1990, Mr. Barnett clerked for The Hon. Harrison Winter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and was a co-teacher of an advanced antitrust seminar at the University of Virginia School of Law. Mr. Barnett is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars and the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Barnett graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1989 where he was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics. He received a Master of Science degree in economics in 1986 from the London School of Economics while a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom. He received his B.A. in 1985 from Yale University where he graduated summa cum laude.

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DOJ Antitrust Division Launches Web Site on Competition In The Real Estate Brokerage Industry

Written by HomeAppraiser on

From: appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com

WASHINGTON -- The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice launched a new Web site today to educate consumers and policymakers about the potential benefits that competition can bring to consumers of real estate brokerage services and the barriers that inhibit that competition.

Among its features, the Web site includes:

maps identifying states with real estate laws that can inhibit competition,
a calculator to help consumers tally their potential savings when brokers pursuing new business models compete for their business, and
links to additional government resources.

The address is: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/real_estate/index.htm

"Buying or selling a home is the largest financial transaction most Americans will ever undertake," said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division. "This Web site will help consumers and policymakers understand the benefits of increased competition among real estate agents."

The estimated median commission paid by home sellers in 2006 was $11,672, according to the Antitrust Division. New real estate brokerage models have the potential to reduce that amount by thousands of dollars. For example, in states that allow open competition, some buyer's brokers rebate up to two-thirds of their commission to the customer, and some seller's brokers offer limited-service packages that let sellers list their homes on the local multiple listing service (MLS) for as little as a few hundred dollars.

In a number of states, however, laws have been passed making it illegal for brokers to offer rebates, or requiring them to offer a full package of traditional services regardless whether all consumers want them. The Antitrust Division Web site contains data showing that if these sorts of barriers to competition were eliminated, consumers could save thousands of dollars in real estate commissions when selling one home and buying another.

The Web site also explains how consumers are harmed when states forbid competition between lawyers and non-lawyers to conduct real estate closings, and when brokers tailor the rules governing local multiple listing services to exclude lower-cost rivals.

Consumers are encouraged to contact the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice if they have information concerning anticompetitive conduct in the real estate brokerage industry.

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