Two more large independent brokerages—John L. Scott Real Estate, which does business primarily in the Pacific Northwest, and Real Estate One, based in Michigan—have reached settlements in the seller commission lawsuits, according to court filings.
Details of the agreements were not immediately available. Representatives from both brokerages did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The settlements were reached in the Gibson case, the largest copycat lawsuit filed in the wake of Burnett, which was launched by the same attorneys and in the same federal district court in the hours after last October’s verdict. Last month, NextHome also struck a deal in the case.
Although there are more than 20 copycat cases filed around the country, most settlements have been negotiated in either this case or the two original seller commission lawsuits, Burnett and Moehrl. Back in April, Gibson added several independent and regional brokerages as defendants, after initially targeting only large franchisors.
John L. Scott Real Estate and Real Estate One were both too large to be automatically included in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement deal, and also chose not to opt into that agreement. They also became the fifth and sixth brokerages to officially strike deals since the NAR settlement opt-in deadline passed, although other companies have indicated they are engaged in discussions in small copycat cases.
Like all other agreements, the deals struck by John L. Scott Real Estate and Real Estate One must be approved by a judge. Only Keller Williams, RE/MAX and Anywhere have received final approval for their settlements, with a handful of other big brokerages scheduled for a final hearing on their respective deals at the end of this month.
And while settlements so far have been written to cover all other copycat claims by home sellers, it remains to be seen how much immunity these deals will include from buyer lawsuits, with Judge Stephen R. Bough—who is overseeing the Gibson case—indicating that agreements will provide at least some protections from those claims.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to RISMedia for updates.
