Source: http://openjurist.org/173/f3d/995/remax-international-inc-v-realty-one-inc
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 2']

173 F3d 995 Re/max International Inc v. Realty One Inc | OpenJurist
173 F. 3d 995 - Re/max International Inc v. Realty One Inc	Home173 f3d 995 re/max international inc v. realty one inc
173 F3d 995 Re/max International Inc v. Realty One Inc 173 F.3d 995
1999-1 Trade Cases P 72,488
RE/MAX INTERNATIONAL, INC.; A.E.B.T.S., Inc., d/b/a Re/MaxCrossroads Properties; T.M.A.T.N.B., Inc., d/b/a Re/MaxAffinity, Inc.; D.F.I., Inc., d/b/a Re/Max Results; JosephP. Grady, Inc., d/b/a Re/Max Xpress; McGrew Realty, Inc.,d/b/a Re/Max Key Realty; Property Professionals, Inc.,d/b/a Re/Max Property Professionals,Plaintiffs-Appellants/Cross-Appellees,Re/Max Northeast Ohio Limited Partnership; Zames Realty,Inc.; Realty Properties, Inc.; True IndependencePartnership; R.E.P., Inc.,Intervenors-Appellants/Cross-Appellees,v.REALTY ONE, INC. (96-3362/3469); Smythe Cramer Company(96-3362/3470), Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
Nos. 96-3362, 96-3469 and 96-3470.
Argued Oct. 30, 1997.Decided April 6, 1999.
Stephen J. Squeri (argued and briefed), Charles M. Kennedy, IV, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Cleveland, Ohio, Barbara B. McDowell (briefed), Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Washington, DC, Edward W. Cochran, Cochran & Cochran, Shaker Heights, Ohio, for Plaintiffs-Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
Jeffrey Baddeley (briefed), Richard M. Markus (argued and briefed), Joyce M. Papandreas, Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, Cleveland, Ohio, for Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant Realty One, Inc.
John J. Eklund (argued and briefed), Thomas I. Michaels (briefed), Philip J. Carino (briefed), Maura L. Hughes (briefed), Calfee, Halter & Griswold, Cleveland, Ohio, for Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant Smythe Cramer Company.
Robert O. Driscoll, Jr. (briefed), State Solicitor, Columbus, Ohio, for Amicus Curiae State of Ohio.
Peter M. Gerhart (briefed), Paul C. Giannelli (briefed), Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, for Amici Curiae Ohio Manufacturers' Association, Ohio Hospital Association.
Before: RYAN and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges; CAMPBELL, District Judge.*
This is an antitrust case involving northeast Ohio real-estate brokers. Plaintiffs accuse the defendants, and one of the defendants accuses the plaintiffs, of engaging in illegal business practices designed to drive the other out of business, in violation of state and federal antitrust laws. Following extensive pretrial motion activity, and in the course of four written opinions comprising some 400 pages of discussion, the district court entered judgments dismissing all of the plaintiffs' claims on summary judgment, and all but one of defendant Realty One Inc.'s counterclaims, either on summary judgment or for failure to state a claim.
Plaintiffs and intervenors, whom we shall call plaintiffs or Re/Max, appeal from the entry of summary judgment against them on their state and federal antitrust claims. Defendant Realty One cross-appeals from the Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of its complaint for failure to state a claim on some of its counterclaims and from the Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 entry of summary judgment on others.
We hold that, although the district court engaged in an exhaustive review of the merits of the claims in this case, it erred in disregarding important aspects of the evidence presented by the plaintiffs' expert witness, and in rejecting evidence that the defendants had the ability to exclude competition from the marketplace. We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to create a justiciable issue whether the defendants violated §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 & 2, and, therefore, summary judgment should not have been entered against the plaintiffs.
Finally, we hold that Realty One's counterclaims are not legally supportable and thus were properly dismissed.
A. The Nature of the Controversy
To provide a contextual framework for our discussion of the merits of this difficult case, we first begin with a few observations concerning the unique nature of antitrust law, and then proceed to a description of the doctrinal predicates that underlie the parties' claims.
Unlike the assumption that informs most areas of tort and contract law, in the marketplace certain "harms" are not only accepted, they are encouraged. Fundamental canons of antitrust law recognize the legitimacy of permitting the natural economic forces of free enterprise to drive inefficient producers of goods and services out of the market, and replace them with efficient producers. Ordinarily, when an efficient enterprise displaces an inefficient one, we conclude that consumers' economic interests are better served, despite that the inefficient enterprise is injured or even destroyed. Conversely, when inefficiency triumphs over efficiency, consumers lose because they receive lower-quality, higher-priced products and services.
Manifestly, the judiciary is ill-suited to evaluate directly the efficiency of business practices. But antitrust doctrine provides a methodology for courts to distinguish between instances of efficiency displacing inefficiency, which is not, per se, an economic harm and for which the law offers no redress, and inefficiency displacing efficiency, which, if achieved by the use of unfair means, the law seeks to prevent or rectify. In general, then, antitrust law seeks to identify situations in which enterprise organizations rely on sheer economic power to drive out an innovative but less powerful rival, rather than attempting to do so by improving the quality or lowering the cost of their products or services.
At the heart of the disagreement between the parties to this lawsuit are disputes about (1) who is economically dominant and (2) who employs the best formula for compensating real-estate sales agents for their services. Because it is conducive to more easily understanding the nature of the two-pronged dispute between the parties, we begin by addressing the second aspect first--who employs the more efficient formula for compensating sales agents.
As most home buyers are aware, ordinarily, a real-estate agent who lists a house for sale agrees to represent the homeowner/seller, doing so for a fixed fee, called a "commission," that is a percentage of the selling price. If another real-estate agent, working for a different broker, brings a purchaser to the deal, the two agents usually split the commission 50/50. If, for example, the sales commission on the listing is 7% of the sales price, the listing agent splits the 7% commission 50/50 with the agent who produced the buyer. Then, ordinarily, although there can be different arrangements, each sales agent must split his or her 3- 1/2% commission 50/50 with the broker with which he is affiliated. To continue the example, if a house sells for $200,000 and the sales commission is 7%, or $14,000, the listing agent receives $7,000, and the agent representing the buyer receives $7,000. Then, under the traditional practice, each agent pays one half, or $3,500, to the broker with which he is affiliated. But Re/Max agencies, throughout the Re/Max nationwide franchise system, compensate their sales agents very differently.
Under its system, Re/Max requires that its franchisees adopt the "Re/Max 100% Concept" which allows real-estate sales agents to receive 95% to 100% of their share of sales commissions, instead of the traditional practice of splitting commissions 50/50 with the salesperson's broker/employer. So, as in the foregoing example, if either the listing agent or the agent producing the buyer is a Re/Max sales agent, his commission, rather than being one half of 3- /2% of the sales price, or $3,500, is the full 100% of the partial commission, or $7,000. In return, Re/Max agents pay the broker/employer a flat monthly fee for desk space, telephone services, secretarial support, and the like. Re/Max contends that the 100% Concept attracts more experienced, more knowledgeable--and this is important--more efficient agents. Indeed, Re/Max recruits and hires only experienced agents, on the theory that novices could not survive without a guaranteed minimum income if commissions were not immediately forthcoming--and ordinarily they are not--when inexperienced agents are "in training" and learning the business.
We now return to the first part of plaintiffs' two-pronged antitrust argument--that defendants are economically dominant in the real-estate market or markets in question.
Re/Max contends that defendants Realty One, Inc. and Smythe Cramer Company have dominance in the northeast Ohio real-estate markets and have used that dominance to defeat Re/Max's attempt to introduce its unique and, it claims, more-efficient sales-agent compensation system. Re/Max argues that the defendants control the northeast Ohio markets in two ways: (1) by obtaining the listings for a large majority of homes for sale and (2) by attracting and employing the large majority of experienced real-estate agents. There is nothing, of course, illegal in that. What is illegal, according to Re/Max, is the means it claims the defendants have employed to perpetuate that dominance--the defendants' so-called "adverse splits" policy, which we shall explain in due course. According to Re/Max, the real and intended effect of this policy is that the defendants essentially refuse to sell homes to customers brought to them by Re/Max agents. In consequence, Re/Max argues, it cannot attract experienced agents for its sales force, because, given Realty One's policy of boycotting purchasers produced by Re/Max, experienced agents would not make enough money working for Re/Max. Without experienced agents, Re/Max argues, it is prevented from entering the northeast Ohio real-estate market.
Realty One, on the other hand (but not Smythe Cramer), counterclaims that Re/Max is attempting to become, through unfair competition, the dominant player in the northeast Ohio real-estate markets. It argues that Re/Max, with its national network of franchisees, is purposely operating at a loss in northeast Ohio by offering greater compensation to experienced agents than it can afford or the market can bear--a sort of predatory pricing--in order to capture the market in experienced agents and thereby establish a real-estate monopoly in northeast Ohio.
Not surprisingly, each party avers that its brokerage system is most efficient. Re/Max maintains that the economies of scale of which it takes advantage in advertising, support services, and the like, and its ability to attract more-experienced agents by paying them 95% to 100% of their sales commissions (the 100% Concept), result in better services to home buyers and sellers.
Realty One and Smythe Cramer claim the Re/Max system is less efficient than theirs in two ways. First, Re/Max has at least three levels of administration: the national franchisor, the regional subfranchisor, and the local franchise. Realty One and Smythe Cramer, on the other hand, are locally based and operated. Second, the "Re/Max 100% Concept" inhibits the recruitment and training of new agents and drives up costs in the labor market. That is, Re/Max makes no investments in agent training, preferring the short-term gain realized by hiring experienced and already successful agents. According to the defendants, customers are ill-served by this practice in the long run because no new agents are ever trained, and experienced agents eventually require more and more compensation as brokerage services become more and more scarce. Conversely, the defendants maintain, they invest substantially in training new agents.
Having set out in general terms the economic context for the disputes in this case, we turn now to a closer look at the parties themselves and the factual and legal bases for their respective claims.
First of all, it must be understood that the plaintiffs accuse the defendants, and defendant Realty One accuses the plaintiffs, inter alia, of violating both §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2. Section one, in relevant part, states:
Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.
Section 2, in relevant part, states:
Plaintiff Re/Max International, Inc. is a franchisor of a real-estate brokerage system that it sells to franchisees across the nation, including northeast Ohio. Intervenor Re/Max Northeast Ohio Limited Partnership is the Re/Max subfranchisor for the northeast Ohio region, an area consisting of Cleveland and the surrounding metroplex. The remaining plaintiffs and intervenors are all franchises located in northeast Ohio, operating in some 14 communities.
Realty One and Smythe Cramer are the largest real-estate brokerages in northeast Ohio in terms of market share. Realty One appears to have 40 offices in northeast Ohio, and Smythe Cramer, 34. The reader interested in knowing the particular communities in which each brokerage operates, at least according to the record of trial, may wish to consult the addendum at the end of this opinion.1. The Plaintiffs' Claims
During discovery, plaintiffs obtained the deposition of an expert witness, Dr. Donald L. Martin, whose testimony presents an important issue in this appeal, as we shall discuss in due course. In a portion of his testimony that is essentially unchallenged, Dr. Martin presented statistical data as follows:
In a majority of the 161 cities and towns in northeast Ohio, the defendants' combined market share exceeds 50%. That is, in 85 out of 161 communities, the defendants earn more than half of all the brokerage fees generated from residential home sales. In all but seven of these cities and towns, the defendants' combined market share is more than 20%. Realty One alone has at least a 40% market share in 37 political subdivisions; Smythe Cramer, more than 40% in 23. Also, according to the plaintiffs' expert, this large market share, with a corresponding lack of significant market share by the next largest competitor, results in Realty One's control of the market in 26 communities, and Smythe Cramer's, in 19. In nine of the cities and towns in which Re/Max has offices, the defendants enjoy the following combined market share: Rocky River (78.5%), Aurora (75.6%), Westlake (68.2%), Hudson (67.2%), Concord Township (64%), Strongsville (60.6%), Broadview Heights (55.7%), Mentor (54.1%), and Painesville (49%). The plaintiffs' expert apparently did not analyze the defendants' market share in Akron, Bay Village, Canton, Dover, and North Canton, the other five northeast Ohio towns in which Re/Max has offices.
We have said that Re/Max claims, inter alia, that it is the means the defendants have chosen to dominate the relevant market for hiring real-estate sales agents--their "adverse splits" policy--which violates state and federal antitrust laws. That is, beginning in 1987, the defendants implemented the adverse-splits policy against all Re/Max agents. Although, as we have explained, the standard practice in the industry is that commissions are split equally when one brokerage brings the seller and another brokerage brings the buyer to a transaction, in 1987 Realty One and Smythe Cramer began notifying Re/Max brokerages that the split would be 70/30 or 75/25, in favor of the defendants, whenever a Re/Max agent was on the other side of the table from a Realty One or Smythe Cramer agent. It is undisputed that the policy was designed to deter defections of sales agents from the defendants' employment to the plaintiffs'.
The plaintiffs allege that neither of the defendants imposed the adverse-splits policy independently, but rather made an agreement to do so, thereby violating § 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits any combination or conspiracy that unreasonably restrains trade. We will address the specific provisions of the Sherman Act more fully, in due course. The plaintiffs also allege that in the communities in which one or the other defendant by itself controls the market for experienced real-estate agents, each defendant, through the implementation of this adverse-splits policy, has used its power to effectively discourage experienced real-estate sales agents from working for Re/Max. The goal, which indeed has been achieved, according to plaintiffs, is to drive Re/Max franchises out of business, or to prevent Re/Max franchises from establishing themselves in the first place, thereby creating an illegal monopoly in violation of § 2 of the Sherman Act.
In simplified terms, then, the plaintiffs' claim is that the defendants control the market for knowledgeable and experienced sales agents who have developed an expertise in certain communities in northeast Ohio, and, through the unfair adverse-splits policy, have prevented Re/Max from recruiting those agents, thereby depriving Re/Max franchises of the information and expertise they need to effectively serve buyers and sellers of homes. Instead of competing with Re/Max in the experienced-agent market by raising the compensation of their own experienced agents, as Re/Max has, the defendants have tried to drive Re/Max out of northeast Ohio by imposing the adverse splits, which do not allow Re/Max agents, and thus Re/Max franchises, to do business profitably. The plaintiffs maintain that the adverse-splits conspiracy constitutes a boycott or refusal to deal, is per se illegal under § 1 of the Sherman Act, and does not require proof that trade is unreasonably restrained. They also argue that, in those areas where one defendant has a monopoly, the adverse-splits policy has been implemented in order to increase or maintain the defendant's market power in that particular area in violation of § 2 of the Act.
The district court entered summary judgment for the defendants on the plaintiffs' § 1 conspiracy claims, finding that no conspiracy had been proved. It dismissed the plaintiffs' § 2 claims, finding that the plaintiffs failed to define the relevant markets in which the defendants allegedly exercised monopoly power and, in any event, failed to prove monopoly power was exercised.
The plaintiffs point to numerous facts in the evidence that they contend demonstrate that Realty One and Smythe Cramer conspired to set the adverse-splits commission rates. First, Leo Lee, a former Realty One employee, testified that the CEO of Realty One, Vince Aveni, admitted that he and Smythe Cramer's principal shareholder, L.B. McKelvey, agreed to impose the adverse-splits policy. Second, the plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Martin, opined that independent imposition of adverse commission splits would be economically irrational for either defendant, even after one defendant had already adopted the policy. Third, the plaintiffs claim that the defendants offered merely pretextual explanations for their conduct, explanations that clearly cannot be believed. That is, the adverse-splits policy cannot be an attempt by the defendants to protect their training investments in their agents, because inexperienced real-estate agents essentially "pay" for their own training because they realize relatively few sales early in their careers. Also, despite the defendants' statements to the contrary, each defendant must at least have considered what the other would do in response to its claimed independent adoption of the adverse-splits policy. Fourth, the leaders of Realty One and Smythe Cramer were once business associates, and in 1987 had the opportunity to meet and work out an adverse-splits agreement. And fifth, the adverse splits were imposed against the various Re/Max franchises by the defendants almost simultaneously. In fact, the record indicates that Realty One imposed a 30% split and Smythe Cramer a 25% split on the following Re/Max franchises on the following dates:
Date Issuing Defendant Re/Max Broker
1.22.90 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Reality
1.31.90 Realty One Re/Max Reality
5.30.91 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Specialists
7.10.91 Realty One Re/Max Realty Properties
11.13.91 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Realty Properties
5.27.92 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Xpress
7.17.92 Realty One Re/Max Xpress
2.15.93 Realty One Re/Max Results
2.17.93 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Results
3.2.93 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Affinity
4.8.93 Realty One Re/Max Affinity
11.12.93 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Crossroads
1.4.94 Realty One Re/Max Crossroads
4.20.94 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Partners
5.12.94 Realty One Re/Max Partners
8.16.94 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Experts
12.19.94 Smythe Cramer Re/Max Premier Service
It appears that the remaining plaintiffs received notice of the adverse-splits policy before 1990, although the record is unclear as to the exact dates.
Similarly, according to the plaintiffs, Realty One and Smythe Cramer have market power in the cities and towns where one defendant has at least a 40% market share, and no other competitor is close to having 40%. Thus, Realty One purportedly has monopoly power in 26 cities and towns; Smythe Cramer, in 19. The plaintiffs claim that each city and town in northeast Ohio is its own market, because, unlike such products as automobiles or video equipment that can be sold anywhere, the expertise possessed by real-estate agents is specific to small geographic areas. Each agent trades in his "knowledge of the physical characteristics of the stock of lo cally listed housing, of the socio-economic characteristics of the population of local homeowners and of the nature of local community amenities (e.g., schools, churches, police security, etc.) together with other relevant details." The defendants advertise and seek market share by reference to particular cities and towns, and the listing services in northeast Ohio list homes for sale by political subdivision. According to plaintiffs, in light of the intensely local nature of the residential real-estate business and the fact that brokerages use political boundaries for other purposes, individual cities and towns must each comprise a separate marketplace in the market for real-estate services. The plaintiffs claim that Realty One and Smythe Cramer each have a monopoly on experienced agents in certain cities and towns, and on the supply of persons with homes for sale, and that the defendants have used these monopolies to keep their agents from accepting better-paid positions with Re/Max affiliates by imposing adverse commission splits. That is, they refuse to sell listed homes--except on terms that are not profitable for the Re/Max agent--to buyers brought by Re/Max agents, including, of course, any former agent of the defendants who has defected to Re/Max.
2. The Defendants' Response
Realty One and Smythe Cramer deny conspiring or exercising monopoly power to impose adverse commission splits. Each defendant maintains that it independently decided to use adverse commission splits to fight a competitor who was trying to lure away its most successful agents and deprive it of a return on its investment in the training of its agents. The defendants claim that as a matter of economic self-defense they decided to cut the amount of commission paid to Re/Max agents, with the result that agents who defected to Re/Max and received all of a 25% or 30% commission would earn approximately the same in the end as agents who stayed at Realty One or Smythe Cramer and received half of the 50% commission that, under the traditional compensation formula, is split with the broker.
C. Defendant Realty One's Counterclaims
Realty One has asserted in various counterclaims that the plaintiffs violated §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and state antitrust law (1) by agreeing to set the level of compensation that Re/Max brokers would pay to other brokers in cooperative transactions, (2) by agreeing not to recruit each other's agents, (3) by recruiting Realty One's agents with the deceptive promise of higher compensation, (4) by disparaging Realty One to its customers and to the general public, (5) by interfering with the contractual relationships between Realty One and its customers, and (6) by engaging in sham litigation for the sole purpose of hindering Realty One's operations. Realty One also alleged violations of Ohio law relating to (7) interference with business relationships and (8) unfair competition.
D. The District Court's Pretrial Rulings
1. The Court's May 10, 1995 Opinion
On May 10, 1995, the district court entered an order dismissing three of Realty One's eight counterclaims. It reasoned as follows: First, Realty One did not have standing to pursue its claim that Re/Max franchisees illegally agreed not to recruit each other's agents ((2) above). In its claim, Realty One alleged no antitrust harm; in fact, it benefitted by the reduction in competition for remaining agents. Even if there were a harm to the market associated with this practice, it is primarily sales agents who would be harmed, and they would be the proper parties to bring suit, not Realty One.
Second, Realty One alleged no antitrust injury in its claim that Re/Max engaged in deceptive recruitment techniques ((3) above). The mere allegation that Re/Max bid more for Realty One's agents could not constitute an antitrust violation.
Third, Realty One did not state a valid claim in arguing under § 2 of the Sherman Act that the Re/Max franchises conspired to set commission splits with non-Re/Max brokerages ((1) above), because Realty One alleged no specific intent on the part of Re/Max to monopolize. Realty One's allegations, even if true, evidenced no more than Re/Max's intent to expand into northern Ohio at Realty One's expense. Additionally, Realty One failed to make sufficient allegations that Re/Max's alleged vertical commission-setting agreements between the franchisor and the franchisees violated § 1, and thus the district court did not consider Realty One's conclusory amended complaint in that regard. However, the court did find that Realty One stated a valid § 1 claim that the franchises had conspired horizontally to set the commissions they pay to non-Re/Max brokerages in cooperative transactions.
Fourth, the court dismissed Realty One's antitrust disparagement claim ((4) above), because "[m]ere allegations of business disparagement are not the type of injuries to competition that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent."
Fifth, the court found that Realty One had stated a valid claim that the plaintiffs conspired to conduct sham litigation against Realty One in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act ((6) above). Sixth, Realty One's state-law counterclaims contained allegations sufficient to survive a 12(b)(6) motion ((7) & (8) above).
Finally, regarding Re/Max's complaint, the district court discussed Re/Max International's, the franchisor's, standing to bring its antitrust claims. The court found that Re/Max International was indeed injured by the defendants' alleged anticompetitive conduct and was the proper party to assert the claim that the defendants were exercising monopoly power in the market for experienced real-estate agents. However, Re/Max International was not the proper party to prosecute the claim regarding the defendants' monopoly in the home-buying and selling market. Re/Max could not prosecute the brokerage-services claim because, as we shall discuss below, of the five factors enumerated by this court to be evaluated in determining antitrust standing, two weighed heavily against Re/Max International, one was neutral, and two weighed for the plaintiffs. On the other hand, the factors heavily favored standing on the competition-for-agents claim.
2. The Court's September 11, 1995 Opinion
On September 11, 1995, the district court denied another motion by Realty One asking for summary judgment. This time, the defendant claimed that issues decided in Re/Max International, Inc. v. Donald Greif, No. 90-0166 (N.D.Ohio Mar. 14, 1990), precluded Re/Max from arguing for a different result in the present case. For reasons not important to this appeal, the district court denied Realty One's motion. Realty One has abandoned any issue-preclusion assignment of error by failing to discuss it on appeal.
3. The Court's September 18, 1995 Opinion
Next, on September 18, the district court considered another round of the defendants' motions for summary judgment. This time, Realty One and Smythe Cramer contended that the four-year statute of limitations had run against many of the plaintiffs' claims, because the first act of the alleged conspiracy occurred in 1987. However, the district court found a genuine factual dispute whether the defendants had engaged in overt acts of conspiracy within the four years preceding January 1994, when the original complaint was filed. Specifically, the court noted record evidence tending to show that the defendants had instituted adverse commission splits against most of the plaintiffs after January 1990, and that the defendants thereafter engaged in other acts such as disparagement of the plaintiffs and disruption of the plaintiffs' efforts to show and sell homes listed by the defendants. Additionally, the plaintiffs' monopolization claims under § 2 had not expired, because the defendants acquired competitors in markets in which they allegedly had m