Fall 2024

The National Association of REALTORS settlement of the buyer-commission antitrust cases took effect on August 17, 2024. Two core changes apply nationwide: offers of compensation to buyer agents may no longer appear on any MLS, and any broker working with a buyer must enter into a written buyer agreement, including a specific, conspicuous statement of the broker's compensation, before touring a home listed on an MLS.

Oregon practitioners had a soft landing for one reason: HB 4058 (signed March 2024) had already established the written buyer representation agreement framework in state law, with implementation rules taking effect January 1, 2025. By the time the NAR settlement's compliance date arrived, most Oregon brokerages had already updated client intake workflows and were running the new written-agreement conversation as standard practice. The Oregon REALTORS forms package was updated effective August 2024 to remove MLS compensation references and align with both the federal settlement and state HB 4058 requirements.

Practical impact: even Oregon brokers not directly affiliated with NAR still operate inside the same compensation-transparency environment, because the HB 4058 rules apply uniformly across the state and the major MLSs serving Oregon have adopted aligned policies. Oregon REALTORS maintains a Buyer Representation and NAR Litigation Hub with the up-to-date forms and FAQs; NAR's Settlement FAQs remain the canonical source on the federal-side rules.