Here’s what’s about to change for people buying and selling homes

TIME quotes Tanya Monestier in a story on what is going to change for people buying and selling homes after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed in March to pay $418 million and make changes to how the home-buying process works in order to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the industry conspired to make agent commissions higher than they needed to be. “Realtor associations across the country have been releasing drafts of contracts that are extremely lengthy and written in legal terms that are difficult to understand,” Monestier said. “The draft buyer agreement from the North Carolina Association of Realtors, for instance, is seven pages long.” Monestier analyzed the draft agreement by the California Association of Realtors (CAR) for the Consumer Federation of America. “No seller will read this monster of a document—much less be able to understand it,” she concluded.