Housing Wire

JANUARY 2, 2024

The complaint argues that the NAR and the brokerage defendants collude “to impose, implement and enforce anticompetitive restraints that cause home sellers to pay inflated commissions on the sale of their homes, in violation of federal antitrust law.” The National Association of Realtors will respond to this complaint in court.”

Sellers 448

Sellers Brokerage Real Estate Realtors 448

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Just prior to the plaintiffs resting their case late Monday afternoon, HomeServices of America , one of the three remaining defendants in the commission lawsuit , filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law. In addition, the contract stipulated that agents must join their local Realtor association.

Law 459

Law Agents Realtors Contracts 459

Housing Wire

APRIL 1, 2025

On Tuesday, at the preliminary approval hearing for defendant MLS Property Information Networks (MLS PIN) settlement, Judge Saris r efused to grant preliminary approval to the settlement as the plaintiffs and defendants were hoping to expand the class to include commercial property sellers and mobile home sellers.

Sellers 287

Sellers Real Estate Buyers Realtors 287

Housing Wire

MARCH 31, 2025

Plaintiffs in a high-profile commission lawsuit have been denied a motion to intervene in eXp World Holdings’ and Weichert Realtors settlement in a separate case. Most of the copycat lawsuits have been settled, but lawsuits in which the plaintiffs are homebuyers rather than sellers remain outstanding. million in November.

Brokerage 343

Brokerage Real Estate Realtors Law 343

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2025

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is poised to decide the fate of its controversial Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) in the coming weeks. It accused NAR and several major real estate brokerages of conspiring to artificially inflate the commissions of agents representing sellers, a violation of federal antitrust law.

Legal 362

Legal Brokerage Real Estate Advertising 362

Housing Wire

JANUARY 21, 2025

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement as well as settlements reached by RE/MAX, Keller Williams, Anywhere , Compass, Redfin, At World Properties and many others may have received final approval , but the first commission lawsuit settlement to be reached has not been so fortunate.

Sellers 370

Sellers Buyers Realtors Law 370

Housing Wire

JANUARY 26, 2024

“I was sitting on my couch and I saw Michael on CNBC calling us a cartel, saying that we take money that doesn’t belong to us, and I was infuriated at that rhetoric and I was infuriated at what that infers about Realtors,” Lamacchia said. “It It dehumanizes Realtors and turns us into money-making machines.”

Realtors 468

Realtors Law Agents Real Estate 468

Housing Wire

AUGUST 1, 2024

As brokerage firms fine tune how to handle the business practice changes outlined in the terms of the National Association of Realtors’ nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement , which are set to go into effect on August 17 , many are focusing on how their agents will handle compensation on both the buy-side and the sell-side.

Sellers 448

Sellers Buyers Agents Law 448

Housing Wire

MAY 26, 2023

Secret Service , notified the title industry of a rise in what is known as vacant lot fraud, or seller impersonation fraud. “We We started to hear a lot about seller impersonation fraud early on in the year,” Tyler Adams, the CEO of CertifID, said. “We Oftentimes this leads to the discovery of vacant lots.

Sellers 397

Sellers Real Estate Realtors Real Estate Agent 397

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 26, 2023

She said that HomeServices does not meddle in operations, give advice, or advise on commissions or how the brokerage approaches Realtor association membership. Frazier also told the jury that ReeceNichols does not require agents to be members of the National Association of Realtors , but the local MLS does. They were guidelines.

Law 435

Law Agents Brokerage Buyers 435

Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2024

The GSEs noted that this guidance was not an update to their selling guides but a clarification on the treatment of seller-paid real estate agent fees. Moving forward, the GSEs say that if these fees continue to be “customarily paid by the property seller according to local convention, they will not be subject to financing concessions limits.”

Buyers 532

Buyers Agents Real Estate Agent Sellers 532

Housing Wire

JANUARY 18, 2024

The suit, known as Fierro, after its lead plaintiff Gael Fierro, a Californian home seller, accuses the real estate industry of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. Patrick Thurber, a California home seller, is an additional named plaintiff in the suit. It was filed on Wednesday in U.S.

Realtors 533

Realtors Brokerage Real Estate Realty 533

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

Home sellers are no longer liable for paying the realtor costs for both the buyer and the seller as a result of a federal case. 25% will rely on conventional rates, while 45% will directly negotiate commission with their realtor. Nine percent, or almost one in 10, were completely unaware of the commission laws.

Marketing 286

Marketing Real Estate Investing Realtors 286

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 12, 2023

A home seller plaintiff in California filed an antitrust lawsuit on Friday in U.S. In a competitive market, the seller would pay nothing to the buyer broker, who would instead be paid by the buyer (their client), and the total commission paid by the seller would be set at a level to compensate only the seller’s broker,” the complaint states.

Realtors 476

Realtors Sellers Real Estate Buyers 476

Housing Wire

AUGUST 12, 2024

There are just five days to go until the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement , but the trade association is not out of the lawsuit woods just yet. In a lawsuit filed on Monday by Douglas Hardy, Glenn Champion and Dylan Tent in U.S.

Real Estate 501

Real Estate Realtors Agents Real Estate Agent 501

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 15, 2023

A copycat commission lawsuit filed on Thursday by home sellers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accuses 47 real estate industry defendants of allegedly conspiring to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas.

Real Estate 493

Real Estate Realtors Realty Real Estate Agent 493

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

The National Association of Realtors also began allowing this under its Clear Cooperation policy in early October 2023.) But the policy may still present a legal issue, as it requires listing agents to make an offer compensation, even if that offer of compensation is in fact nothing ($0), law professors said. As of Jan.

Legal 468

Legal Law Sellers Real Estate 468

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

It found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of collusion to maintain high commission rates. It’s yet to be determined what this means for Realtors at this point,” Timothy Ray, the lead attorney for Keller Williams, told HousingWire in the Charles Evans Whittaker U.S.

Real Estate 497

Real Estate Landlords Sellers Design 497

Housing Wire

JULY 3, 2024

District Court in Philadelphia on behalf of Davis by attorneys at Korein Tillery LLC , the same law firm representing the plaintiffs in the Batton suits. The suit is seeking class-action status for a nationwide class defined as persons who purchased residential real estate that was listed on a Realtor-affiliated MLS between Dec.

Real Estate 426

Real Estate Law Realtors Buyers 426

Housing Wire

AUGUST 29, 2024

Many state Realtor associations’ new forms —such as buyer representation agreements—are largely incomprehensible to the average homebuyer or seller and have language that seeks to avoid the terms of the National Association of Realtors ‘ (NAR) nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement , according to a report released earlier this month.

Buyers 448

Buyers Realtors Agents Sellers 448

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a claim made by the plaintiffs under a federal antitrust law. But Wood, who is also overseeing the Moehrl commission lawsuit , preserved nearly all of the plaintiffs’ claims under state antitrust laws (with exceptions in Tennessee and Kansas).

Realtors 435

Realtors Brokerage Real Estate Law 435

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Just hours after securing a victory for his home seller clients in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit, Michael Ketchmark, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, filed another class action antitrust lawsuit against some of the real estate industry’s biggest players, in U.S. District Court for Western Missouri. Who’s named?

Real Estate 448

Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 448

Housing Wire

AUGUST 8, 2024

The suit, which is named after its plaintiff Scott Davis, was filed in late May in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Davis by attorneys at Korein Tillery LLC , the same law firm representing the plaintiffs in the Batton suits. All other state law claims must therefore be dismissed.” Illinois, 431 U.S.

Law 446

Law Real Estate Realtors Buyers 446

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The watchdog group reached this conclusion in a report released Tuesday, in which the group examined 43 different contracts from 37 states, with most of the sample contracts coming from state or local Realtors associations. This provision has the potential to inflate seller or buyer costs,” the report states.

Buyers 480

Buyers Contracts Agents Realtors 480

Housing Wire

AUGUST 22, 2024

Wood, who is overseeing the Batton suits, ruled that the “plaintiff lacks antitrust standing to pursue this claim because he is not an efficient enforcer of the antitrust laws.” “Not

Law 434

Law Real Estate Agent Real Estate Brokerage 434

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

The privately owned multiple listing service has taken a laissez faire approach since its launch in 2009, as it promises no fees and fewer rules than MLSs owned by Realtor associations. You have to follow the law, but if it’s legal, you can do it,” Pfaff said. “We We will always comply with the law.”

Legal 482

Legal Realtors Agents Brokerage 482

Housing Wire

MAY 1, 2024

Less than a week after HomeServices of America settled the home seller commission lawsuits for $250 million , the firm again finds itself in the crosshairs of antitrust litigation. On Monday, homebuyer James Lutz filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit in a U.S. Lutz’s attorneys wrote that this has “led to higher home prices paid by buyers.”

Sellers 468

Sellers Real Estate Agent Realtors Real Estate 468

Housing Wire

AUGUST 19, 2024

Several real estate groups recently criticized the Consumer Federation of America’s support for uncoupled buyer and seller agent real estate commissions, writing in HousingWire that, “CFA has seemingly lost sight of its core purpose advocating for those most in need of consumer protection.” Department of Justice (DOJ).

Real Estate 459

Real Estate Sellers Buyers Agents 459

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Originally filed in March 2019, the Moehrl lawsuit alleges that real estate industry participants including HomeServices, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Anywhere , RE/MAX and Keller Williams conspired to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. The class encompasses home sellers across 20 local MLSs.

Real Estate Agent 458

Real Estate Agent Realtors Real Estate Sellers 458

Housing Wire

JANUARY 19, 2024

Unlike other MLSs, MetroList is not exclusively owned or operated by Realtor associations affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. Instead MetroList is owned and operated by local Realtor associations and California Real Estate Brokers, Inc. The lawsuit is seeking class action status for all persons in the U.S.

Realtors 458

Realtors Real Estate Real Estate Agent Buyers 458

Housing Wire

MARCH 27, 2024

Rule 23(b)(3) requires that the court “find that ‘questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members,’ and that a class action is the ‘superior’ method of adjudication of the controversy. The Eighth Circuit refused this request.

Law 459

Law Sellers Realtors Contracts 459

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday, alleging a series of violations of antitrust law, including commission arrangements and consumer disclosure requirements. Home buyers and sellers should be aware of all the broker fees they are paying.

Real Estate 545

Real Estate Buyers Realtors Sellers 545

Housing Wire

MAY 21, 2024

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs will soon release a circular that “bridges the gap” on an agency law that prohibits a VA buyer from paying their real estate agent compensation, a VA official announced on Tuesday.

Buyers 523

Buyers Agents Real Estate Agent Real Estate 523

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

According to court documents filed on Monday, RE/MAX and the home sellers suing the firm in both the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett cases, which both deal with buyer brokers’ commissions, have reached a preliminary settlement agreement, settling all claims in both suits.

Buyers 505

Buyers Realtors Real Estate Agents 505

Housing Wire

APRIL 30, 2024

As the July deadline for the implementation of the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement approaches, the trade organization is looking to iron out some details about buyer broker agreements.

Buyers 488

Buyers Open Houses Sellers Agents 488

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 6, 2023

More home sellers on the East Coast are getting in on the commission lawsuit action. Similar to the other commission lawsuits, the latest two take aim at the National Association of Realtors’ Participation Rule, which requires the listing broker to make a blanket offer of compensation to the buyer’s broker to list the property on the MLS.

Realty 459

Realty Realtors Brokerage Real Estate 459

Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

National Association of Realtors , et al., involve common questions of law and fact, consolidation will conserve judicial resources and promote efficiency, and consolidation will not cause undue delay, confusion, or prejudice,” Bough wrote in his ruling. The Umpa suit was filed in late December 2023 by a Maryland home seller.

Realtors 448

Realtors Real Estate Brokerage Law 448