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In 2019, Mike Ketchmark got a call. Mike was an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri, and his friend, another attorney, Brandon Boulware, called to pitch Mike on a case. Mike was an unusual choice—he was a personal injury attorney, and this was going to be an antitrust case.
But Brandon knew Mike was good in front of juries and had won huge settlements for his clients in the past.
So the lawyer friend came to Mike’s office and pitched him the case. Rhonda and Scott Burnett had just sold their house for $250,000, of which they paid $15,000 in commission (plus a small fee) split between two real estate agents—even though they only hired one. The commission was high—6%. Mike’s friend said the whole thing seemed… fishy. Maybe even illegal.
Mike agrees to take the case, which quickly becomes bigger than just the Burnetts’. It will become a battle over the way homes are bought and sold in America, challenging the way real estate agents have done business for over 100 years.
This episode is hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Keith Romer. It is produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Keith Romer, designed by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.
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Music: Universal Productions Music – “Jazz Club Beat,” “Stop The Missiles” and “This Is Not Goodbye”
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