Gino Blefari

While the decision didn’t go in the industry’s favor, Gino Blefari played a valiant role in last October’s class action lawsuit against the National Association of REALTORS® and major brand defendants, including HomeServices of America where Blefari holds the CEO title.

During his testimony, Blefari consistently emphasized that HomeServices of America affiliates operate independently, emphasizing that commissions are negotiable, and that the only expectation of affiliates is that they adhere to the NAR Code of Ethics.

When lead attorney for the plaintiffs Michael Ketchmark asked Blefari if he understood the allegations of a conspiracy that resulted in homeowners paying more in commissions than they should have, he replied, “I understand that. I don’t agree with it one bit.” Later he added, “I’m here to say we didn’t conspire to keep prices high.”

Blefari also defended the role of the buyer’s agent during his testimony. “It’s in the best interest of the seller to have as many possible buyers look at their house, (rather) than to limit those buyers,” later adding that if agents aren’t doing that, then they’re breaching their fiduciary duty.

Meanwhile, Blefari helped the firm’s affiliates stay strong in 2023, thanks to a profitable 2022 for HomeServices of America. As he told RISMedia last March, “we entered 2023 in a very strong position which allows us to be more strategic in our decisions and alleviates the need to make knowingly bad business decisions simply to save money in the short term.”