Housing Wire

MARCH 19, 2024

Florida-based brokerage Atlantic Trust Mortgage has asked a Michigan federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) that alleges a violation of an amended agreement. Atlantic Trust entered into a wholesale broker agreement with UWM in 2018. district court in Michigan. UWM sued Kevron Investments Inc.,

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 10, 2024

Like the corporate brokerage defendants in the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit , the National Association of Realtors also filed post-trial motions. The trade group joined defendants HomeServices of America and Keller Williams in filing motions for judgement as a matter of law and a new trial.

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Housing Wire

MAY 2, 2024

The former eXp Realty agent at the center of the firm’s current legal battles involving sexual assault allegations has filed his own lawsuit against the brokerage, which accuses founder Glenn Sanford of defaming him during the firm’s Q3 2023 earnings call in November 2023. Sanford and eXp were dismissed from this suit in January 2024.

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Agents Realty Law Brokerage 312

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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Housing Wire

JANUARY 3, 2023

In February 2022, UWM filed a lawsuit in Michigan federal court against AML, a high-volume brokerage firm based in Southern California, for breaching their amended wholesale broker agreement imposing the ultimatum. However, a declaration that the ultimatum violated antitrust law survived. According to the lender, AML owes it $2.8

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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 lawsuit is seeking class action status for everyone in the U.S.

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Sellers Brokerage Real Estate Realtors 375

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

million settlement with plaintiffs in two bombshell buyer commission lawsuits have been made public, and they stipulate that the brokerage conglomerate make significant changes to its practices. Anywhere will eliminate any minimum client commission requirements that company owned brokerages may have.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

.” While the plaintiffs in the Moehrl , Sitzer/Burnett and Nosalek lawsuits are all represented by large law firms with class-action experience, the plaintiff in the relatively small Burton suit in South Carolina is represented by attorneys at Knie & Shealy Law Offices in Spartanburg.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2023

” California-based AML filed the amended counterclaim on March 8, alleging UWM violated antitrust laws, unreasonably restrained trade, and attempted to monopolize the wholesale mortgage space with its “All In” initiative. In February 2022, UWM filed a lawsuit against AML, claiming the brokerage firm owes $2.8

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Many of these laws target specific types of real estate deemed crucial to national security, such as farmland or property near military installations, while other laws apply more broadly to all types of land. Laws should also be clear on the role title insurance professionals play in facilitating transactions with foreign owners.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 10, 2023

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Freedom Mortgage Corporation for allegedly violating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and a 2019 consent order by submitting legally required mortgage loan data that “was riddled with errors.”

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

After nearly 10 days of trial proceedings, Zillow is ready for its years-long legal battle with REX Real Estate to be over. On Wednesday, just nine days after the long-awaited trial’s September 18 start date, the real estate behemoth file a motion for judgment as a matter of law in the U.S. District Court in Seattle hearing the trial.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2024

The first was a motion for judgement as a matter of law and the second was a motion for a new trial. 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. This evidence was not allowed to be presented to the jury.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

The plaintiffs who signed the contract, however, sued a non-signatory parent company of the signatory brokerages, which “asserted liability based on the non-signatory’s relationship with its subsidiary.” Under Missouri state law, HomeServices of America would have needed to have been named as a third-party beneficiary on the client contracts.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

It appears that no real estate brokerage firm in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Real Estate Board of New York rules governing the multiple listing service in Manhattan kept commissions high and violated state and federal antitrust laws. is safe from a commission lawsuit.

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Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 438

Housing Wire

JULY 19, 2023

Consider the following, fairly common scenario and the result: A seller signs a listing contract with a real estate brokerage for six months. Sometimes, the initiation of a commission claim is met with a retaliatory claim that the agent or brokerage did something wrong. Confirm that your brokerage documents (e.g.,

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Real Estate Legal Brokerage Clients 288

Housing Wire

JANUARY 18, 2024

The complaint names 35 entities as defendants, including the National Association of Realtors , local and national brokerages, MLSs and local Realtor associations. Patrick Thurber, a California home seller, is an additional named plaintiff in the suit. 17, 2020, and the present.

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Realtors Brokerage Realty Real Estate 490

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

For industry analyst Rob Hahn, this would mean that an independent brokerage who becomes a RE/MAX or Anywhere franchisee prior to the settlement being approved would gain immunity from commission lawsuits. But antitrust law experts don’t think things are quite so simple. “I 31, 2019, to the present. 31, 2019, to the present.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 11, 2024

But legal experts are not as certain. They could certainly intervene in the settlement negotiations, but they are not a party — they are just a party of interest,” said Paul Rogers, a professor of law who specializes in antitrust at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. “It

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Real Estate Law Realtors Legal 391

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

who sold a house on an MLS and used an agent from one of the brokerage defendants between Dec. 27, 2019, and the present — 118 different client agreements that are subject to arbitration fall under the laws of 35 different states. In the Umpa suit — which is seeking class-action status for everyone in the U.S.

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Realty Real Estate Law Brokerage 355

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

using a listing agent or broker affiliated with one of the seven brokerage defendants and paid a buyer broker commission from Oct. The filing claims that the defendants “conspired to require home sellers to pay the broker representing the buyer of their homes in violation of federal antitrust law.”

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Real Estate Brokerage Sellers Law 392

Housing Wire

AUGUST 7, 2023

Things are continuing to heat up in Zillow Group’s legal battle with discount brokerage REX Homes , as the September 18, 2023, trial date looms ever closer. In mid-May 2022, REX ceased its brokerage operations. On Friday, Judge Thomas Zilly, the U.S. NAR also believes its side will succeed in the lawsuit.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Clinton’s long-standing career in public service, in-depth legal expertise in housing policy and executive leadership skills will help bolster FHFA’s work as a world-class prudential regulator.”. How to Diversify Your Brokerage to Weather Economic Hardship. How to Diversify Your Brokerage to Weather Economic Hardship.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 23, 2024

While the settlement protects roughly 1 million NAR members and hundreds of real estate brokerages nationwide, it does not provide protection for firms that recorded more than $2 billion in residential transaction volume in 2022, meaning that the nation’s largest brokerages are not protected.

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Realtors Brokerage Agents Real Estate 332

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Braun argued that legal issues still playing out in the Sitzer/Burnett suit was not a reason to delay the trial in the Moehrl case. He added that Keller Williams would like to see the “Moehrl case to stand on its own consistent with the law” in its district and circuit. The suit received class-action status in March 2023.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

However, the plaintiffs who signed the contract sued a non-signatory parent company of the signatory brokerages, which “asserted liability based on the non-signatory’s relationship with its subsidiary.” Due to this, HomeServices said it sought to compel arbitration to determine whether the plaintiffs’ claims are arbitrable.

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Contracts Brokerage Law Real Estate Agent 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

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. Bough ruled Tuesday that the Umpa and Gibson commission lawsuits can consolidate. National Association of Realtors , et al.,

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Realtors Real Estate Brokerage Law 327

Housing Wire

JANUARY 28, 2021

Rentals listed on Zillow will now show whether or not they lie in a jurisdiction with local laws protecting renters from discrimination based on the use of Housing Choice Vouchers. The app also lists any local laws protecting renters who use veteran’s benefits or Social Security insurance payments to pay their rent.

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Landlords Tenants Law Legal 457

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

As brokerages across the country have begun implementing buyer agency contracts into their business practices in the wake of the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit verdict, the Consumer Federation of America is warning consumers that they may be filled with “unfair provisions” that primarily protect agents and brokers.

Buyers 346

Buyers Contracts Agents Realtors 346

Housing Wire

JANUARY 11, 2021

Syndicated columnist Lew Sichelman reported Sunday that Dmitry Shkipin of HomeOpenly.com alleged that Rocket Homes was receiving what amounted to illegal kickbacks while violating consumer protection laws, market allocation practices, and antitrust laws.

Real Estate Agent 380

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Brokerage Law 380

Housing Wire

AUGUST 17, 2023

Freedom provided kickbacks to real estate brokers and agents — including those at Realty Connect — in return for mortgage referrals, a clear violation of federal law,” Rohit Chopra, the director of the CFPB, said in a statement. CFPB dinged the lender , which paid these brokerages up to $20,000 a month, a $3.5 million fine.

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Realty Mortgage Brokerage Real Estate 369

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

While many in the real estate industry were surprised by the news Friday morning that the National Association of Realtors had agreed to a nationwide settlement of the commission lawsuits for $418 million, Marty Green, a principal at law firm Polunsky Beitel Green , was not one of them. Almost any time in history the U.S.

Agents 426

Agents Brokerage Advertising Real Estate 426

Housing Wire

MARCH 1, 2024

California-based mortgage brokerage Loan Factory was sued by a class of loan originators, who allege that the company used their personal and professional information, without their authorization, on its website in an attempt to drive business. He declined to comment further.

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Loan Officers Law Brokerage Business 391

Housing Wire

MAY 3, 2021

Filed last week in California state courts, the lawsuit is the latest legal drama involving Compass, the New York City-headquartered residential brokerage. The couple allege that the brokerage lured them in 2018 with the promise of a signing bonus, marketing budget, and office space. The second-largest brokerage in the U.S.

Agents 393

Agents Brokerage Real Estate Agent Real Estate 393

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2023

The first week of the much-anticipated Sitzer/Burn e tt class action buyer broker commission antitrust lawsuit concluded with the testimony of economic and legal experts. Roger Alford, a law professor from Notre Dame, was also called to testify on Friday.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 16, 2024

The national brokerage firm called the plaintiffs’ motion premature, noting that the court has yet to approve the four other settlement agreements reached by the other defendants in the lawsuit. “Defendants who are found to conspire are jointly and severally liable for all damages flowing from the conspiracy.”

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Law Realtors Brokerage Legal 362

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 22, 2023

Requirements to get your real estate license in Texas Getting your real estate license in Texas comes down to fulfilling your qualifying education requirement, applying for your license, getting your background check, taking and passing the exam, and finding a sponsoring brokerage. Did you know?

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Real Estate Real Estate Agent Agents Brokerage 353