Posted on 08/31/2012 11:05:04 AM PDT by WilliamIII
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The owner of a property-listing website based in California is suing Nebraska to dispute a state requirement that she obtain a license to market homes in the Midwestern state.
Leslie Young filed her federal lawsuit Thursday in Lincoln, seeking a permanent injunction to stop Nebraska from enforcing the law, which she says violates her First Amendment rights, the Lincoln Journal Star ( http://bit.ly/Pu0WWf) reported.
Her Elist.me website features advertisements for properties listed on ForSaleByOwner.com. Young says in the lawsuit that she is merely publishing information about the listings and doesn't get a commission if a home sells and that she doesn't provide other services to homeowners.
"The state of Nebraska is foreclosing on First Amendment rights by imposing burdensome licensing requirements on Leslie Young's online home-sale ad business," Timothy Sandefur, principal attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a news release.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4775489/californian-sues-nebraska-over.html
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I don't know why we have state licensing at all. Risk management is up to the insurers. Let them make the call of qualifications v. risks v. scope of work, etc. State licensing offers no warranty for performance and no culpability for evaluating qualifications effectively.
Mucho dinero.
She could even be making all her dough through banner ads, but either way, the USSR should butt out of free speech. The only reason they can control the speech of real estate agents is because they are licensed. Now they are trying to force her to get a license in order to even show people what real estate is available.
Dispicable.
Not even a finders fee or the cost of listing? I would think she is making something. Maybe customers like Angie’s lists who pay a fee
It’s not a free speech issue. It’s a commerce issue. The woman is posting homes for sale at the moment. The state of Nebraska is just asking that she be licensed and know the states rules and regulations pertaining to Real Estate.
It would be much different if she was posting homes *she* had for sale.
What if she where posting other peoples homes for sale and sorting them by racial stats of the area they are in?
What if she where posting other peoples homes for sale and sorting them by racial stats of the area they are in?
She could be using Google AdSense, affiliate links, banner ads, or any number of other ways to monetize her site. Those would have nothing to do with the properties that she's listing (other than the fact that same people who view the listings would also see the ads).
Makes sense
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