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About This Course
The Antitrust Law & Ethics in Real Estate course examines how legal frameworks and ethical standards intersect to shape modern real estate practices. Designed for licensed Utah real estate professionals, this course helps agents, brokers, and property managers understand how antitrust laws protect fair competition and ensure professional integrity.
Real estate professionals will gain insights into how pricing, commissions, and competition are regulated under federal antitrust laws—and how ethical decision-making plays a critical role in day-to-day business conduct. In this Utah RE Antitrust Law & Ethics Course, you’ll also explore key legislation, real-world case studies, and the ethical challenges that impact the industry, including emerging issues like algorithmic pricing and online competition.
This Utah-approved, 3-hour CORE course equips licensees with the skills to interpret legal texts, understand civil versus criminal antitrust cases, and recognize behaviors that align with both legal and ethical standards.
Who Should Take This Course:
- Licensed Utah real estate agents, brokers, and property managers
- Professionals completing mandatory CORE continuing education
- Real estate professionals seeking to strengthen their understanding of ethics, compliance, and fair competition
Course Requirements:
Active Utah real estate licensees completing required CE hours must complete the full course and final assessment to earn credit and an instant digital certificate of completion.
Topics Covered
This lesson focuses on the following topics:
- Understanding the difference between law and ethics
- Antitrust laws and anti-competitive practices
- Antitrust enforcement
- Becoming educated consumers of legal information
- Legal battles over real estate commissions
What You’ll Learn
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Understand the historical, economic, and ethical basis of antitrust laws.
- Identify the key pieces of legislation related to preserving fair competition and free, open markets in the United States.
- Gain vocabulary and insights into the regulation and prosecution of antitrust violations, including identifying the difference between civil and criminal cases and the plaintiff and defendants in these cases, as well as terms such as the yardstick method and challenged restraints, which appear in antitrust cases in the real estate industry.
- Develop the requisite skills to access and comprehend the details of court cases affecting the real estate industry through primary sources rather than third-party sources with potential for bias
- Understand the legal frameworks that regulate competition in the real estate industry and best practices for legal compliance and maintaining industry integrity, ethics, and professionalism.
- Differentiate between behaviors and practices that are legal, ethical, and compliant as well as those that are not.
What Are the Antitrust Laws in Real Estate?
Antitrust laws in real estate are federal and state rules designed to promote fair competition and protect consumers. They prohibit practices that restrict competition or manipulate the market.
Common violations can include:
- Price fixing: Agreeing on commission rates or fees with competitors.
- Market allocation: Dividing territories or client types instead of competing.
- Group boycotts: Coordinating to avoid working with a particular competitor or client.
- Bid rigging/collusion: Coordinating offers to influence outcomes.
Following antitrust laws helps real estate professionals protect consumers, maintain market integrity, and avoid serious penalties.
What Is Considered Unethical Conduct in Real Estate?
Unethical conduct in real estate occurs when an agent, broker, or firm acts in ways that violate professional standards, client trust, or fair business practices. While the specifics vary by state, examples of unethical behavior include:
- Misrepresentation or fraud: Providing false or misleading information about a property or transaction.
- Conflict of interest: Failing to disclose a personal or financial interest in a transaction.
- Discrimination: Violating fair housing laws by refusing service or showing bias based on race, gender, religion, or other protected classes.
- Breach of fiduciary duty: Putting personal gain ahead of the client’s best interests.
- Collusion or price manipulation: Cooperating with competitors to fix commissions or limit competition, which also violates antitrust law.
Maintaining high ethical standards is essential for protecting consumers, upholding professional credibility, and ensuring compliance with both state regulations and the REALTOR® Code of Ethics.
What Is the Code of Ethics for REALTORS® in Utah?
The Code of Ethics for REALTORS® in Utah follows the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Code of Ethics, which establishes professional standards for honesty, fairness, and integrity in real estate practice. Utah REALTORS® are required to adhere to these principles as part of their membership in the Utah Association of REALTORS®.
The Code is organized into three sections:
- Duties to Clients and Customers: Protect and promote clients’ interests while treating all parties honestly.
- Duties to the Public: Avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, and concealment of pertinent facts; support equal housing opportunity; and comply with the law.
- Duties to REALTORS®: Cooperate with peers, avoid false or misleading statements, and respect exclusive relationships.
Compliance and professional standards are generally administered by local REALTOR® associations, which review ethics complaints and may impose discipline when violations occur.
