The chief legal officer at CoreLogic, the multiple listings service vendor and housing analytics firm, is leaving the company as it handles an inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department into multiple listings services.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Arnold Pinkston had “accepted another professional opportunity” and would leave the company June 14 and that his departure is “not the result of any disagreements with the company.”
Last week, CoreLogic notified clients of a request by the U.S. Department of Justice for MLS data relating to buyer broker commissions and its policy language around the appropriate handling of the data.
Multiple listings service vendors and major residential brokerages have received increasing scrutiny for antitrust concerns in recent months following a class action lawsuit filed by homesellers. The lawsuit was filed last year against the “big four” national residential brokerage companies Realogy, Re/MAX, HomeServices of America and Keller Williams, as well as the National Association of Realtors. It alleges the brokerages conspired with the industry group to determine buyer agents’ compensation by introducing rules that require all brokers to offer buyer broker compensation when listing a property on a MLS. As a result, the homesellers allege this has driven up costs to the seller and stifled competition.
CoreLogic was targeted in a separate lawsuit earlier this month in Texas, where the Austin Board of Realtors have accused the firm of selling home sale data to a local appraisal organization.