Iria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department asked a court on Thursday to block a rule by the real estate industry's main trade group that authorities claim limits competition from Internet-based brokers.

The Justice Department said in a statement that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) rule "prevents consumers from receiving the full benefits of competition and threatens to lock in outmoded business models and discourage discounting." The government said it filed the civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The NAR said in May it would back away from the disputed bylaw that the department's antitrust division feared would allow real estate brokers to bar their property listings from being displayed by some discount rivals.

The Justice Department on Thursday acknowledged that the NAR had revised the rule but said the modified version still discriminated against "innovative" brokers and did not resolve its concerns.

The rule has come under sharp criticism from Internet-based competitors such as RealEstate.com, an online brokerage and referral service that is a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp..

Efforts to reach an NAR representative for comment on the suit were not immediately successful.
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Source: Reuters