On October 25, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC, entitled "Competition Policy and the Real Estate Industry." The primary finding from the workshop is that real estate competition is fierce.

Anyone is welcome to submit comments on the topic; comments will be accepted until November 28, 2005. NAR elected leaders and staff participated in the workshop to communicate NAR's point of view that the real estate industry is extremely competitive.

This is your chance to let the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission know your thoughts about the competitive nature of the real estate industry. NAR urges all its members to take advantage of this opportunity.

You Must Send Letters to Both the DOJ and the FTC

Step 1: Write a letter

Letters that include your personal experiences with competitiveness in the industry will be most effective with the FTC and DOJ. To help you get started, below are prewritten "sections" of letters that summarize key issues to be discussed at the workshop.

Build your letter using one of our points as the foundation, and then personalize it with your own market story.

Step 2: Submit your comments to the DOJ

You can send your letter on paper or electronically. Either way, please e-mail a copy to us at FTCDOJworkshop@realtors.org.

Paper
Mail or deliver an original and two complete copies. Include the following reference both in the text of the letter and on the envelope:

"Competition and the Real Estate Workshop" -- Comment, Project No. V050015

Mail the letter to

Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Liberty Place, Suite 300
Attention: Lee Quinn
325 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530

Electronically
E-mail your letter to realestateworkshop@usdoj.gov.

Step 3: Send the same letter to the FTC

You can send your letter on paper or electronically.

Paper
Mail or deliver an original and two complete copies. Include the following reference both in the text of the letter and on the envelope:

"Competition and the Real Estate Workshop" -- Comment, Project No. V050015

Mail the letter to 

Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary
Room 135-H  (Annex F)
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
 

Electronically
Fill out the form at https://secure.commentworks.com/FTC-realestatecompetition.

Your letter will be sent as an attachment.