"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.

"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.

The Non-Compete Nightmare

Organized Money is a podcast about how the business world really works, and how corporate consolidation and monopolies are dominating every sector of our economy. The series is hosted by writers and journalists Matt Stoller and David Dayen, both thought leaders in the antimonopoly movement. Organized Money is a fresh spin on business reporting, one that goes beyond supply and demand curves or odes to visionary entrepreneurs. Each week Matt and David break down the ways monopolies control everything from the food we eat, to the drugs we take, the way we communicate and even how we date. You’ll hear from workers, business leaders, antitrust lawyers, and policymakers who are on the front lines of the fight for open markets and fair competition. If you care about an economy that is free and open, one not controlled by a handful of corporations, Organized Money is for you. New episodes out every week until the end of the year. Organized Money is a Rock Creek Sound production, from executive producers Ari Saperstein and Ellen Weiss, and senior producer Benjamin Frisch.&nbsp;

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Organized Money is a podcast about how the business world really works, and how corporate consolidation and monopolies are dominating every sector of our economy. The series is hosted by writers and journalists Matt Stoller and David Dayen, both thought leaders in the antimonopoly movement. Organized Money is a fresh spin on business reporting, one that goes beyond supply and demand curves or odes to visionary entrepreneurs. Each week Matt and David break down the ways monopolies control everything from the food we eat, to the drugs we take, the way we communicate and even how we date. You’ll hear from workers, business leaders, antitrust lawyers, and policymakers who are on the front lines of the fight for open markets and fair competition. If you care about an economy that is free and open, one not controlled by a handful of corporations, Organized Money is for you. New episodes out every week until the end of the year. Organized Money is a Rock Creek Sound production, from executive producers Ari Saperstein and Ellen Weiss, and senior producer Benjamin Frisch. 

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