Supreme Court and govt agencies allowing service fees to brokers

[Lester Langdon]

On our recent MasterMind teleconference, there was conversation about challenges with government agencies (HUD?) allowing a broker to charge an service fee. (am I remembering correctly?)

This article about the recent Supreme Court decision may help.

Is it illegal under federal law for a real estate brokerage to charge its clients fees for items or activities that in fact do not constitute any service for or benefit to the client? In this age of regulation and consumer protection, I suspect that most people would say, "yes, that's illegal." It must be against the law to collect unearned fees – to charge when no service is performed – mustn't it?

Well, as it turns out, that's not illegal – at least not illegal under federal law. The Supreme Court just said so.

Read more .... http://realtytimes.com/newsfiles/realtim..._respa.htm