Hamilton real estate 'cartel' cops $4m in penalties

Thu, 10 Sep 2020

The Auckland High Court has levied price fixing penalties totalling $4 million against two Hamilton-based real estate firms, Lodge Real Estate and Harcourt’s agency Monarch, for engaging in cartel style price-fixing in breach of the Commerce Act. The judgment caps off an action against 13 national and regional real estate agencies, on the hook for combined penalties amounting to almost $23 million for colluding to pass on the costs of online auction platform Trade Me’s pricing changes — from subscription based pricing to per-listing fees — f...

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