This just in. Last Thursday broker Gregory Hackman of Rockford, Illinois filed a federal antitrust lawsuit (there are several non-antitrust counts included toward the back of the complaint) against over a dozen parties, many of whom offer brokerage services in the Rockford area. Hackman alleges that the defendants have sought to control commissions in the Rockford area by "(1) attempting to intimidate Plaintiffs into 'charging' a certain commission rate for his real estate listings, which was higher than what Plaintiff was then charging; (2) refusing to deal with Plaintiffs in retaliation for Plaintiffs' decision not to charge a certain rate, by refusing to show properties to Plaintiffs' clients, and in refusing to offer Plaintiff the advertised Multiple Listing Service commission rate; (3) initiating trumped-up ethics complaints against Plaintiff, in an effort to tarnish his record and reputation; and (4) adversely affecting Plaintiffs' relationships with its clients by interference and by false statements about Plaintiffs to its agents and clients." Hackman, who asked for a jury trial, is seeking various compensatory, punitive, declaratory, and injunctive relief, but no less than $500,000.
The named defendants are:
1. Dickerson Realtors, Inc.
2. Whitehead Realtors
3. Premier Real Estate Brokerage Services, Inc.
4. Century 21 Country North, Inc.
5. R. Crosby, Incorporated
6. McKiski-Lewis, Inc.
7. Lori Reavis
8. Ray Young
9. Michael Dunn
10. Donna Shipler
11. Melissa Smith
12. Jessica Licary
13. Diane Parvin
14. Rockford Association of Realtors
15. Illinois Association of Realtors
The suit was filed in the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division (Case No. 06C50240). If you'd like a copy of the complaint, please email me (I have yet to figure out how to post documents to this blog).
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