Top Hamptons residential real estate brokerages have become the target of a U.S. Justice Department investigation over whether the Web-based listings exchange system Open RealNet Exchange, or OREX, unfairly leaves out smaller companies, according to the New York Post, which did not cite the names of the companies. The move comes on the heels of a dropped lawsuit that George Simpson, owner of competing data service Suffolk Research Service, brought against 25 East End real estate firms and brokers, according to an August 2009 story from The Real Deal. Simpson has long-argued that the OREX system’s hefty $40,000-plus yearly subscription fee blocks smaller companies from joining, forming a de facto monopoly among the East End’s big boys. [Post]

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A legal battle against 21 real estate brokerages, four individuals and two real estate service providers in the Hamptons has continued this month, with several legal claims and motions filed back and forth. Many of the firms accused in Suffolk Research Service owners George and Jean Simpson’s $9 million lawsuit against the Corcoran Group, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Sotheby’s, Brown Harris Stevens and others have filed motions to dismiss the case. The Simpsons’ lawsuit alleges the brokers are illegally hoarding property data by charging too much for their shared online listing service. The Simpsons responded with a motion for a default judgment against some of the companies they sued, including BHS and Coldwell Banker Prestigious Properties. [more]

Hamptons real estate prices and sales continued to fall in the first quarter, according to data from analysis firm Suffolk Research Service. Sales on the East End declined by 42 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. “The market is just dead,” said George Simpson, head of the research service. But area brokers said they have started to see an increase in sales over the past month.
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