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Century 21 Real Estate
American real estate agent franchise company
American real estate agent franchise company
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Century 21 Real Estate LLC |
| logo | Century 21 logo 2018.svg |
| type | Subsidiary |
| industry | Real estate Franchising |
| foundation | , in California, U.S. |
| founders | Art Bartlett |
| Marsh Fisher | |
| George Sofokleous | |
| location | Madison, New Jersey, U.S. |
| locations | 86 countries and territories |
| key_people | Michael Miedler (president and CEO) |
| num_employees | 147,000 |
| parent | Anywhere Real Estate |
| homepage | [www.century21.com](https://www.century21.com/) |
Marsh Fisher George Sofokleous
Century 21 Real Estate LLC is an American real estate agent franchise company founded in 1971. The system consists of approximately 14,000 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 86 countries and territories worldwide with over 147,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey.
History
Century 21 Real Estate (Century 21) was founded in 1971 by two real estate agents, Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher, in Orange County, California.
Here Bartlett reveals how they decided on the name:
We were brainstorming at lunch one day - my former VP and I - and I said the name had to sound like it had been around for a long time. [...] My former VP suggested 20th Century Realty. I thought it would be impossible to get the name registered. He said 21st Realty, but I didn't like that. He then said, "How about Century 21?" I liked it, though it sounded futuristic. [...] I called Marsh and told him, but he thought it was too futuristic. He wanted Green Valley. Well, we finally agreed on Century 21, and we incorporated the company.
Century 21 was acquired by Trans World Corporation in 1979, when Trans World Corporation decided to focus on hospitality and housing. In 1985, MetLife acquired Century 21 from Trans World Corporation. When MetLife decided to leave the housing business, Century 21 was sold to Hospitality Franchise Systems (later Cendant) in 1995. When Cendant split in 2006, Century 21 became part of Realogy, now Anywhere Real Estate.
''The Joy of Home'' Campaign
In November 2024, Century 21 Real Estate launched "The Joy of Home," a global marketing campaign. Century 21 cited shifts in consumer decision making towards community and connection as motivators behind the campaign, which features "more humanized" messaging and visual media.
Legal cases
In 2019, Century 21's parent company Realogy was named as a co-conspirator in multiple class-action lawsuits alleging that it artificially inflated commissions paid by home sellers. In September 2023, it agreed to pay $83.5 million to settle two of the lawsuits. One of the cases, Burnett v. National Association of Realtors, went to trial the following month, where a federal jury found that the parent company did participate in the commissions conspiracy. The settlement agreement removed the requirement for Century 21 real estate agents to belong to the National Association of Realtors.
References
References
- Bloomberg. (3 February 2019). "Company Overview of Century 21 Real Estate LLC". Bloomberg.
- "Company Profile".
- "Company Profile".
- Alejandro Lazo. (6 January 2010). "Co-founder of real estate giant Century 21". Los Angeles Times.
- Hayes, John P. (1990) Art Bartlett: The Man Who Redefined Franchising
- FURLONG, TOM. (1985-05-29). "Transworld Plans Sale of Its Century 21 Unit : Price for Real Estate Subsidiary May Reach $200 Million; Parent to Buy 11% of Own Stock". Los Angeles Times.
- BERKMAN, LESLIE. (1985-08-21). "Metropolitan Life Will Purchase Century 21". Los Angeles Times.
- "Century 21 Is Sold To A Hotel Company Metlife Is The Seller, Hospitality Franchise Systems The Buyer. Some Franchisees Don't Expect Much Change Locally. - Philly.com".
- (December 17, 2024). "The Joy of Home". CENTURY 21 Real Estate.
- Harney, Kenneth R.. (2019-05-14). "Lawsuits over who should pay buyer’s agent could upend housing market".
- Kamin, Debra. (2023-10-31). "Home Sellers Win $1.8 Billion After Jury Finds Conspiracy Among Realtors".
- Kamin, Debra. (2023-10-06). "More Brokerages Leave Powerful Realtor Group".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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