Navigating Non-Compete Agreements

"I was served papers while picking up my children from school." That was the beginning of Arizona real estate broker Courtney Van Kott's shocking six-year legal nightmare to fight a non-compete. As a young mother just starting in real estate, Courtney tells Matt she was pressured to sign a contract requiring her to pay 75% of commissions earned for three years after leaving her team—even for clients she found herself. After moving to a new brokerage, she faced a lawsuit demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars, enduring years of litigation before finally winning her case. Their conversation reveals the devastating personal and industry-wide impacts of non-competes, especially for independent contractors. While the Federal Trade Commission attempted to ban most non-competes nationwide in 2024, that rule remains blocked in court, leaving a patchwork of state laws and ongoing uncertainty for millions of American workers like Courtney.