Danish Estate Agents Association and EDC-gruppen fined for boycotting boliga.dk

Judgment by the Copenhagen City Court on 30 January 2018

By assistant attorney Pernille Tinndahn-Nielsen

The dispute started in 2009 when seven estate agents, according to the competition authorities, agreed to “boycott” the housing portal boliga.dk because it was a direct competitor to the agents’ own portal, boligsiden.dk. 

The “boycott” implied that the estate agency chains refused to provide photos to boliga.dk and limited their advertising on the portal. In 2012, the Competition Council and the Danish Competition Appeals Tribunal found the agreement contrary to the Danish Competition Act.

The Copenhagen City Court held that the estate agents’ practices were intended to restrict competition on the market for house search engines. Hence, there was no need to assess whether the practices had had an actual effect on competition.

The five other estate agents (Home, DanBolig, Nykredit Mægler, Realmæglerne Holding and Danske Selvstændige Ejendomsmæglere) accepted in 2016 paying a fixed penalty notice of DKK 12 million in full discharge of the matter. EDC-gruppen and the Association of Chartered Estate Agents, on the other hand, decided to have the matter reviewed by the courts.