CADE convicts real estate unions for price fixing

On 11 September, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) convicted 11 unions and the Brazilian Federation of Real Estate Brokers (FENACI) for price fixing in real estate services. The penalty includes Brazilian entities from the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Sergipe, and the Federal District. The parties involved are to pay more than BRL 1 million in fines.

The anticompetitive conduct consisted of imposing price fixing in fee schedules, which had to be followed by all real estate brokers when providing services, according to settlements made by the Brazilian Federal Council of Real Estate Brokers (COFECI).

The Office of the Superintendent General launched an administrative proceeding to investigate COFECI’s anticompetitive conducts such as the issue of resolutions with provisions that harm competition and a mandatory price list elaborated by the unions and ratified by the Regional Councils of Real Estate Brokers (CRECIs). 

According to evidence, the anticompetitive violation focused on financial advantages to real state unionised individuals, identified by documents on price fixing and in the defence of the defendants in the administrative proceeding. 

In his vote, the rapporteur of the case, Commissioner Victor Oliveira Fernandes highlighted the severity of  violations such as concerted practices by price fixing. “I consider the conduct harmful, creating an artificial price rise and obstacles to free competition”, he mentioned. 

Prosecutor Waldir Alves,  representative of the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Services (MPF) at CADE, defended a rigorous conviction for the entities in the collusion. “This kind of attitude, including a shift in the statute, is intolerable”, he stated. 

Following the opinion of the rapporteur of the case, the Tribunal of CADE unanimously found the parties guilty and convicted them to pay BRL 1,020,000 in fines. The Tribunal also determined that all references to price lists, code of ethics, and predetermined value contracts must be taken from the electronic platforms of the parties involved. 

Access Case no. 08700.004093/2020-18.