Housing Wire

JANUARY 26, 2024

When the copycat commission suit was initially filed in early January by Nevada home seller Nathaniel Whaley, the complaint named just Realtor associations and MLSs as defendants, making it stand out from the spate of other commission suits.

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Brokerage Realty Realtors Sellers 372

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Like with most things in life, real estate brokerages come in a variety of shapes and size, from white-glove service firms to discount brokerages to flat-fee firms that offer al a carte services. Every big brokerage has some of them, but if you think about some of the most productive agents, a lot of them sit on Compass’ platform.

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Brokerage Agents Realtors Real Estate 425

Housing Wire

APRIL 22, 2024

Photo Credit: AJ Canaria) Between inflation , an uncertain interest rate environment and legal challenges , the real estate industry is facing unprecedented challenges. In fact, the sweet spot for acquisitions over the next couple of years is going to be the small one-office brokerage firms.” My advice is to start simple.

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Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 354

Housing Wire

MAY 9, 2024

Wood, who is overseeing the Batton suit as well as the Moehrl home seller commission lawsuit , said this request was “neither necessary nor appropriate.” As part of their settlement agreements, Anywhere, RE/MAX and Keller Williams have agreed to pay $83.5 million , $55 million and $70 million , respectively. 26, 2024.

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Brokerage Realty Sellers Real Estate 380

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

A Kansas City jury has found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of colluding to inflate or maintain high commission rates through NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule, in the Sitzer/Burnett buyer broker commission lawsuit. The defendants have been ordered to pay damages of $1.78

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Brokerage Realtors Sellers Buyers 545

Housing Wire

MARCH 18, 2024

Jessica Edgerton , chief legal officer at LeadingRE , was also caught off guard by the timing of everything. “I If the seller is willing to have that discussion, then you and your buyer can see what they would be willing to cover.” More off-MLS listings? It is really going to go backwards.

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Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 396

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

At the crux of the case is the allegation that commission rates are too high, it’s unfair that the seller pays the buyer’s agent’s commission, and that the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Code of Conduct and MLS Handbook lead to set pricing. ” What’s at stake?

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Buyers Brokerage Agents Realtors 448

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Central to the complaint is NAR’s Participation Rule, which requires listing brokers to make a blanket offer of compensation to buyer brokers in order to list a property on the MLS. “By By enforcing this mandate, the NAR establishes an anticompetitive market where sellers are coerced into subsidizing the buyer’s costs.

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Brokerage Realty Real Estate Agent Real Estate 417

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

Based on NAR’s settlement, agents working with buyers will need a signed buyer representation agreement starting in mid-July, pending final court approval of the settlement. Bills Clarke said this is exactly how agents already work with sellers, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to implement buyer agreements into a business. “We

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Buyers Contracts Real Estate Agents 465

Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2024

HomeServices of America , the last remaining brokerage defendant in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett antitrust commission case , has agreed to pay $250 million in damages to settle lawsuits that will change agent compensation across America. The New York Times first reported the story. The jury verdict came to $1.76 billion in damages.

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Brokerage Agents Real Estate Buyers 435

Housing Wire

JANUARY 29, 2024

In an amended complaint filed on Friday, home sellers Danielle and Jessie Kay (who sold a house in Baden, Pennsylvania, in December 2021 with the help of an agent from Realty One Group Gold Standard ) were added as a plaintiff. The addition of the five local brokerages is not the only recent change to the list of defendants.

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Brokerage Realty Real Estate Real Estate Agent 316

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

According to court documents filed on Tuesday, Anywhere Real Estate 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.

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Real Estate Buyers Legal Realtors 414

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Three researchers believe a first-of-its-kind dataset has enabled them to definitively answer a long-debated question: why have buyer agent commission rates been so stable historically? and relied on salaried agents rather than commission-paid agents, who typically cost sellers 5-6%. One of the researchers, Will Fried, had a hunch.

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Clients Agents Buyers Sellers 421

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.

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Realtors Brokerage Realty Real Estate 500

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

But three multibillion-dollar class action antitrust lawsuits looming over the real estate industry may soon reshape how buyers interact with agents. You’ve got current economic conditions that are not opportunistic for a homebuyer right now, inflation is still out there and it’s all constraining buyers’ ability to spend. “You’ve

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Buyers Agents Loan Officers Real Estate 380

Housing Wire

MAY 6, 2024

Redfin has joined the growing list of real estate brokerages that have settled the commission lawsuits. brokerage that has saved consumers more than $1.5 As part of the settlement agreement, Redfin has agreed to pay $9.25 million into a qualified settlement fund within 30 days of the court’s preliminary approval of the agreement.

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Brokerage Realty Real Estate Agents 414

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

A second home seller in Nevada has filed a lawsuit alleging that real estate industry players in the state have colluded to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions. District Court in Las Vegas by Nevada home seller Angela Boykin. This would lead to competition among buyer brokers to offer lower commission rates.

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Real Estate Realtors Realty Brokerage 394

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

HomeServices of America can preserve some of its legal war chest — for now, at least. The residential brokerage was dismissed this week from one of the early real estate commission lawsuits , known as “Batton 1” after its lead plaintiff, a homebuyer named Mya Batton. Judge Andrea Wood of the U.S.

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Brokerage Realtors Real Estate Law 339

Housing Wire

JULY 19, 2023

A typical commission dispute arises when, after signing a listing agreement or buyer-broker agreement: A seller-client “cancels” a valid purchase contract. A seller-client cancels a listing. A seller-client permits the property to be foreclosed upon. Confirm that your brokerage documents (e.g.,

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Real Estate Legal Brokerage Clients 299

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The trade group’s legal woes have brought it back to California, where is already facing other commission lawsuits. 2021 to a buyer represented by a Redfin agent. While this is certainly not the only lawsuit Redfin has been named a defendant in, it is the first suit in which it is named as the sole real estate brokerage defendant.

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Realtors Legal Agents Brokerage 369

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

It appears that no real estate brokerage firm in the U.S. On Wednesday, Manhattan home seller Monty March filed a lawsuit in U.S. The anti-competitive nature of commission rule is clear when compared to other countries with competitive markets for residential real estate brokerage services.” is safe from a commission lawsuit.

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Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 446

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

I actually started out as a buyer’s agent myself… and I see buyer’s agency as being a very valuable tool for buyers,” Sanford said during the Q&A session. I’m concerned, quite frankly, about what this might mean to buyers who may not be able to afford representation if things change up too much.”

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Buyers Realty Real Estate Realtors 352

Housing Wire

MARCH 25, 2024

Cooperative compensation is still legal,” Papasan stressed. They noted that NAR’s settlement prohibits disclosing offers of cooperative compensation, broker compensation or total broker compensation, but it does not address including remarks noting that buyer agent compensation will not be offered.

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Agents Advertising Real Estate Buyers 391

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. Lutz’s attorneys wrote that this has “led to higher home prices paid by buyers.” “

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Sellers Realtors Real Estate Agent Real Estate 390

Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2024

“The gravamen of Plaintiff’s complaint is that anti-competitive BAREIS MLS rules, which Defendants agreed to, implemented, and enforced, require Class members to make a blanket, unilateral, and effectively non-negotiable offer of buyer broker compensation when listing a property on the BAREIS MLS,” the amended complaint states.

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Brokerage Realtors Realty Real Estate 364

Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2024

So, while I make no claim as to the specific deep legal issues, I have some familiarity of antitrust actions and more in the conduct of legal actions in a courtroom. They also testified to the importance and value of the MLS as a core service that agents provide to sellers and buyers. That is how they got to $1.8

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Agents Law Sellers Legal 344

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.

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Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 399

Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

Another brokerage has decided to settle the commission lawsuits. Chicago-based At World Properties , which own @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate , has agreed to settle the nationwide class-action antitrust claims brought by home sellers.

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Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 279

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

I have spoken numerous times over the past 35 years about the fairness and efficiency of what I refer to as the Realtor marketplace , which is a combination of a multiple listing service with Realtor association oversight, supported by a majority of brokerage firms and sales agents. Buyers may begin to go directly to listing agents.

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Realtors Brokerage Agents Buyers 412

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 4, 2023

District Court in Boston granted the Department of Justice’s request to extend all settlement related deadlines in the Nosalek buyer broker compensation class action lawsuit on Tuesday. Unlike the two other buyer-broker commission lawsuits, Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett , NAR is not a defendant in the Nosalek lawsuit.

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Buyers Realtors Sellers Legal 386

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

With several of the major brokerage houses already having settled, NAR was in the untenable position of fighting to protect a business model that was already compromised by the settlements.” An industry insider at a top brokerage shared a similar sentiment. “We It also agreed to prohibit broker compensation appearing in the MLS fields.

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Agents Brokerage Advertising Real Estate 432

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

The modified rule still gives sellers and their listing brokers a role in setting compensation for buyers’ brokers,” the filing states. “The modified rule still gives sellers and their listing brokers a role in setting compensation for buyers’ brokers,” the filing states.

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Sellers Buyers Real Estate Contracts 423

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

District Court in South Carolina, alleging that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Keller Williams colluded to artificially inflate agent commission rates, increasing costs for home sellers. “The effect of these rules is not simply that the seller must pay the buyer broker’s compensation,” the complaint states.

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Sellers Realtors Buyers Agents 408

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Can we ask if the buyer is represented now? Can we even discuss things about the house because if we inform the potential buyer of something about the house that makes them not want the house, even if it isn’t something necessarily bad, are we going against our agreement with our seller?”

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Open Houses Brokerage Agents Realtors 465

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. Despite not requiring NAR membership, Frazier said the brokerage does require agents to follow the NAR Code of Ethics. We don’t want people unrepresented.”

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Law Agents Brokerage Buyers 349

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.

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Realty Realtors Brokerage Real Estate 418

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

District Court in New Orleans, home seller plaintiff Joseph C. Peiffer, a prominent lawyer in the Big Easy, accuses local brokerage firm Latter & Blum of colluding to artificially inflate agent commissions. The brokerage is part of the LeadingRE network. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S. In 2023, it ranked as the No.

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Brokerage Sellers Realtors Agents 363