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The Federal Communications Commission has plans to tighten the reigns on artificial intelligence-generated robocalls.

Jessica Rosenworcel | Credit: FCC

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced her plan on Tuesday, requiring callers to disclose the AI-generated robocalls when obtaining prior express consent from consumers. Even with prior express consent, callers would be required to make another disclosure on every AI-generated call they make, a measure Rosenworcel said would help consumers “identify and avoid” calls that “contain an enhanced risk of fraud and other scams.”

The plan also calls for creating tech that helps consumers identify and block unwanted AI-generated calls and protecting “positive uses” of AI-generated calls for consumers with disabilities.

Rosenworcel said her proposal builds on several recent actions the FCC has taken to regulate robocalls, including the passage of a declaratory ruling that said voice cloning technology is illegal and a $6 million fine levied against a New Hampshire man who made voice-cloned robocalls to sway 2024 primary voting.

The plan will undergo a three-part voting process, starting at the FCC’s August Open Meeting. If commission members approve it, it will face public comment and a final vote before implementation.

Although the plan doesn’t mention any specific industry, it addresses a critical component of many real estate agents’ lead generation plans and emerging tech that uses AI to automate cold calls.

Last year, Texas-based franchisor Keller Williams settled a $40 million class action lawsuit for unsolicited, pre-recorded telemarketing calls its agents made to consumers without their consent. The lawsuit leaned on the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which Rosenworcel cited multiple times in her announcement on Tuesday.

“Bad actors are already using AI technology in robocalls to mislead consumers and misinform the public,” she said in a written statement. “That’s why we want to put in place rules that empower consumers to avoid this junk and make informed decisions.”

Katie Lance

In an email to Inman, marketing expert Katie Lance said Rosenworcel’s proposal is a “significant development” that agents and brokers shouldn’t ignore.

“For agents who rely on AI to streamline their marketing tasks, this move underscores the importance of ethical and compliant AI usage,” she said. “AI has revolutionized our industry by enabling more personalized and efficient communication with clients; however, it’s crucial for agents to understand the boundaries of these tools to ensure they are not infringing on consumer privacy or regulatory standards.”

Lance said AI must be used responsibly, and this is the time for agents to review what AI tools they’re using and adjust how they’re using them.

“For agents, this means being vigilant about the sources and methods of their AI tools, ensuring they comply with all relevant regulations, and focusing on building genuine connections with clients,” she said. “AI should augment our efforts, not replace the personal touch that is so vital in real estate.”

Email Marian McPherson

At Inman Connect Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 1, 2024, the noise and misinformation will be banished, all your big questions will be answered, and new business opportunities will be revealed. Join us.

Two weeks after filing a theft of trade secrets lawsuit against competitor CoStar Group, Realtor.com parent company Move, Inc. has asked a judge in California to block CoStar Group’s access to files at the center of the lawsuit.

Move’s attorneys filed the preliminary injunction on Monday with Judge Steve Kim of the U.S. District Court in California, asking the court to block CoStar Group and former Realtor.com News and Insights Editor James Kaminsky’s access to Move-owned files outlining core information about Realtor.com’s N and I editorial budget, audience and revenue numbers, alongside employment summaries for several Move employees.

Move said Kaminsky accessed those files at least 37 times after taking a position as an editor at Homes.com in January. Move wasn’t aware of Kaminsky’s alleged actions until June 3, when a Move employee got an alert that Kaminsky’s Gmail account had opened a core file for the Realtor.com News and Insight team. Move then barred Kaminsky’s Gmail address.

In addition to the preliminary injunction, Move’s counsel also wants CoStar Group to provide a list of electronic devices (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, cell phone) Kaminsky has used since joining Homes.com. Move also asked for a forensic inspection of said devices.

“Move easily meets the standards for entry of a preliminary injunction and for an order authorizing limited expedited forensic discovery,” the injunction request read. “With an appropriately crafted Order, the Court can help Move stop further misappropriation of trade secrets, ensure unauthorized access to its computer systems has stopped, prevent more spoliation, and determine where Move’s stolen information has been sent.”

Gene Boxer | Credit: CoStar

In an email to Inman, CoStar Group General Counsel Gene Boxer characterized the preliminary injunction as “a knee-jerk filing” and another “PR stunt” from Realtor.com as competition heats up between the two residential portal behemoths.

“Last week, we noted that plaintiffs with real concerns about trade secrets file for injunctions when they file complaints, and that Move had not, and we predicted that now that we had called them out, they would file such a motion,” Boxer said in a statement to Inman. “That’s exactly what happened. Realtor.com’s motion confirms that they’re using a mid-level employee as a pawn and that they have zero evidence of any involvement by CoStar. None.”

Inman also contacted Realtor.com; however, a company spokesperson said, “[Realtor.com] doesn’t comment on pending litigation.”

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in Move and CoStar Group’s battle over which residential portal can rightfully claim the second-place spot during a pivotal point in a years-long portal war.

CoStar Group caught the industry’s attention in October 2023 when the company announced its residential portal, Homes.com, had drawn 100 million monthly unique visitors in September — a metric that meant Homes.com had grown its traffic by 117 percent in one month.

Despite questions about the correctness of those claims, CoStar Group and Homes.com quickly leaned into messaging about surpassing Realtor.com as the second-most trafficked portal in the U.S., putting $1 billion into a star-studded marketing blitz to drive traffic and memberships to the site.

CoStar Group founder and CEO Andy Florance and Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales spent much of the first quarter of 2024 delivering slight jabs at each other. Both leaders embraced competition and touted the strength of their respective platforms during their Inman Connect New York appearances; however, the stakes have heightened since then.

Eales began putting additional pressure on Florance and CoStar Group in May, using his time at the National Association of Realtors MLS Forum of the Realtors Legislative Meetings to lambast CoStar Group for casting Homes.com Network traffic figures as Homes.com traffic figures.

In July, Move took Eales’ concerns to the Better Business Bureau National Programs’ National Advertising Division, which recommended that CoStar stop using “Homes.com just reached 156M monthly unique visitors” and “Homes.com now has DOUBLE Realtor.com’s traffic” in its ads as both claims are based on traffic for the Homes.com Network.

CoStar Group acquiesced to NAD’s recommendations, with recent advertising highlighting Homes.com’s 100 million monthly unique visitors. The company can still highlight traffic numbers for the Homes.com Network if they “explicitly disclose it in the body of its advertisements.”

The Court will decide on the preliminary injunction during a hearing on Aug. 14.

Email Marian McPherson

At Inman Connect Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 1 2024, the noise and misinformation will be banished, all your big questions will be answered, and new business opportunities will be revealed. Join us.

Leading LA luxury broker Tyrone McKillen is bidding adieu to Official after spending less than two years with the brokerage, Business Insider first reported.

In early 2023, McKillen joined Official to spearhead the firm’s expansion into Los Angeles. At that time, McKillen brought over $500 million in listings with him, as well as his eight-person team, Plus Real Estate Group.

Official has confirmed that McKillen and his team will be leaving the brokerage.

“We have a deep amount of respect for Tyrone and support him in his new venture,” Nicole Oge, co-founder and chief growth officer at Official, said in a statement to the Real Deal.

Official and McKillen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Inman. McKillen also did not respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal.

The move comes just weeks after Official co-founders and brothers Oren and Tal Alexander stepped down from their positions at the firm in response to mounting lawsuits alleging the brothers and their other brother, Alon Alexander, were perpetrators of rape and sexual assault.

Following McKillen’s departure, it is unclear in what capacity Official will continue to operate in Los Angeles.

McKillen’s exit will likely be a setback in terms of Official establishing itself in LA’s luxury market, which is full of competitive boutique firms and larger household names alike.

Currently, McKillen holds a mix of for sale and for rent listings representing more than $100 million in volume, according to his online profile.

The broker also founded and serves as principal of Plus Development Group, a LA-headquartered development and design firm, of which his team is also a part.

Last week, Tal Alexander denied the rape and assault allegations against him through a court filing made by his attorneys, who said they would push for a jury trial in their continuing fight against the allegations.

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Email Lillian Dickerson

This report was originally published on July 8, 2024, exclusively for subscribers of Intel, the data and research arm of Inman. Subscribe to Inman Intel for a deeper analysis of the business of real estate.

Agents across most of the U.S. are meeting some common hurdles: High mortgage rates that suppress new inventory, weak sales and a series of commission rulings and settlements that have flooded the brokerage business with uncertainty.

But in some parts of the country, that inventory squeeze is pressing in particularly hard. And in others, a significant share of clients are already pushing their agents for more answers about how they can manage — or benefit from — upcoming changes to NAR rules.

Intel dove deeper into its flagship real estate sentiment survey for these findings, looking for the key trends and factors driving business in the four main regions of the U.S.: the Northeast, South, West and Midwest.

Here are four of the biggest regional takeaways from the most recent Inman Intel Index, a survey of 708 real estate professionals that ran from June 20-July 3.

1. The inventory shortage is a different beast in the Midwest and Northeast

New listings are hard to come by in most parts of the country, but the decline in inventory has stabilized in most places.

But if you’re an agent in the Midwest or Northeast, your new-listing business is likely to have suffered especially hard over the past year.

• The share of agents who told Intel in June that their listing client pipelines got “substantially lighter” over the past year is 23 percent in the Midwest and 27 percent in the Northeast.
• Compare that to 12 percent of agent respondents from the West and 15 percent in the South who said their listing pipelines are substantially down year-over-year.

As a result of this continued winnowing of listing pipelines, agents in the Midwest and Northeast are likelier than agents in other regions to report that lack of inventory remains the greatest threat to their business.

• 33 percent of agents in the Midwest and 44 percent of agents in the Northeast listed “lack of inventory” as their top business concern.
• That’s compared to 15 percent of agents in the South and 19 percent in the West who said the same. 

Instead of highlighting the inventory challenge, agents in the South and West were more likely to name mortgage rates as their top concern. They were also more likely to report holding positive outlooks for their buyer and seller pipelines over the next 12 months.

2. Top-level agent splits are fairly prevalent in most corners of the country — save one

Ultra-high agent splits have grown more common in recent years as big brokerage startups offered attractive packages to fuel their rapid growth, and franchises and indies reacted to compete for top talent.

But the latest Inman Intel Index results may also reveal a more layered regional dynamic.

• Fewer than 5 percent of agent respondents in the Northeast reported having splits of 90/10 or above with their brokerage. 
• That’s far below the 18 percent of agents in the Midwest, 31 percent in the West and 34 percent in the South who told Intel their splits were as high as 90/10.

This may be partly explained by the population who replied to the poll, but not entirely. 

• Agents in the Northeast were more likely than agents in other regions to report working with a publicly traded, non-franchising brokerage brand such as eXp, Compass or the Real Brokerage. 
• At the same time, agents in the Northeast were also more likely than any other group to report having a 70/30 split, despite a smaller share saying their brokerage used a franchise model, which is more prone to adopt splits in this range.

Here’s a table with the full regional breakdown.

3. Sellers in the West may be wising up to the NAR changes

Although many agents have fielded questions from at least a few clients about the commission lawsuits, clients don’t always have a specific tactic in mind.

But throughout the Western U.S. states, more agents are seeing a level of client engagement with the details that other regions haven’t yet reported.

• 35 percent of agents in the West told Intel that a significant share of their seller clients — at least 1 in 10 of them — have asked whether they’re required to cover the buyer’s commission in recent months.
• This share exceeds those of other regions: 22 percent of agents in the South, 22 percent in the Northeast and 17 percent in the Midwest said the same.

Perhaps partly for this reason, agents in the West were among the most likely to name commission compression or negotiation as their top business concern.

• 26 percent of agent respondents in the West said their top concern was commission compression or negotiation, roughly matching the 25 percent who said the same in the South, and exceeding the 22 percent in the Midwest and 20 percent in the Northeast with the same response.

Still, in this generally high-price region of the country, it’s no surprise that the top concern of 34 percent of agents in the West was still mortgage rates, not commission compression.

4. An itch to jump ship vs. the wait-and-see approach

This region-by-region examination of the latest Intel Index results also revealed differing dynamics about recruiting.

• In the Northeast states, 12 percent of agent respondents said they were nearly certain to switch brokerages sometime in the next 12 months.
• The share of agents who believe they are sure to move was 10 percent in the South, 9 percent in the West and a mere 3 percent in the Midwest.

But just because so many Midwest agents aren’t yet sold on a move doesn’t mean they are closed off to one. 

• 18 percent of Midwest agents who responded to the Intel Index in June reported their decision was either 50-50 or leaning slightly toward leaving their current brokerage, compared to the 14 percent of agents in all other regions who said the same.

Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey was conducted June 20-July 3, 2024, and received 708 responses. The entire Inman reader community was invited to participate, and a rotating, randomized selection of community members was prompted to participate by email. Users responded to a series of questions related to their self-identified corner of the real estate industry — including real estate agents, brokerage leaders, lenders and proptech entrepreneurs. Results reflect the opinions of the engaged Inman community, which may not always match those of the broader real estate industry. This survey is conducted monthly.

Email Daniel Houston