The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate.
Gibson plaintiffs file for final approval in new settlement agreements
Plaintiffs have filed a motion for final approval of settlement agreements with six parties in Gibson v. National Association of Realtors et al, the largest copycat lawsuit following the Burnett verdict—also filed in Missouri by the same attorneys behind Burnett.
Plaintiffs have previously reached final approval for settlement with 17 defendants in the case. The six new settlements have been reached with defendants Hanna Holdings, Inc.; William Raveis Real Estate, Inc.; EXIT Realty Corp. International and EXIT Realty Corp., USA; Windermere Real Estate Services Company, Inc.; and William L. Lyon & Associates, Inc.
Under these settlement agreements, the settling defendants would pay the following if approved:
- Hanna Holdings: $32 million
- William Raveis: $4.1 million
- Windermere and Lyon: $2.1 million
- EXIT Realty: $1.5 million
In the filed motion, the plaintiffs ask that the court grant approval to these settlements and issue a settlement notice (a legal document notifying that a case has been resolved).
Buyer plaintiffs file expert reports detailing commission damages
Across two in-depth reports totaling 332 pages, buyer plaintiffs in the massive Batton class-action commission case put forward expert arguments supporting the theory that homebuyers as well as sellers were harmed by National Association of Realtors® (NAR) policies, aiming to certify a national class with tens of billions in potential damages.
Dr. Rosa Abrantes-Metz, an economist who previously has provided testimony in high-profile antitrust cases including recent ones against Google and Apple, provided a detailed economic analysis in support of the theory, while Dr. Norman Miller, a professor of real estate at the University of San Diego, wrote that NAR rules fostered steering and decoupled commission rates from service quality.
“In short, my prior research and review of the record and data in this case leads me to conclude that buyer-agent commission rates in the U.S. have been disconnected from fundamental economic principles,” Miller wrote.
According to Abrantes-Metz’s calculations, the damages from just four MLSs would be $3.6 billion.
First filed in 2020, the lawsuit names NAR, Anywhere, Keller Williams and REMAX. The deadline for defendants to file their response is Dec. 23.
Zillow faces discrimination lawsuit from former sales director
Samuel Herrera, a former senior director of sales at Zillow, has filed a lawsuit against the company that alleges racial discrimination. Herrera was fired from Zillow in February 2024 for allegedly violating Zillow’s Travel and Expense Policy by taking another senior employee to a work dinner. Herrera’s complaint claims this expenditure was not out of the ordinary and he was not given an opportunity to reimburse Zillow.
Herrera spent 14 years working for Zillow, during which he was promoted seven times. This culminated in his naming as manager of rentals, Eastern region in 2022. The complaint claims that Zillow refused to further promote Herrera, despite his strong track record, on account of his Hispanic heritage, and that the company employs a double standard for white employees. The allegations continue that Herrera was “forced out” of the company due to complaints made in 2022 about a “race-based hostile work environment.”
“When Mr. Herrera’s superb sales propelled him to the director level, Zillow halted his climb up the corporate ladder by denying him further promotional and earning opportunities in favor of less qualified white employees,” the complaint reads.
A Zillow spokesperson provided the following statement to RISMedia: “We are aware of the lawsuit recently filed, and while we won’t discuss details on pending litigation, we take any allegation regarding our work environment very seriously. The claims alleged in the complaint are inconsistent with Zillow’s culture and values, and we believe they are without merit. One of our highest priorities at Zillow is and always has been creating an environment where people do great work and treat each other with dignity and respect.”
D.C. broker sues associations, claiming that three-way agreement is “cartel structure”
Washington, D.C., broker William Whittman of Proplocate Realty LLC has filed a lawsuit against both NAR and several regional/local associations—Virginia Realtors® (VR), Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR), Maryland Realtors® (MR) and the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors® (GCAAR)—in the Federal District of Maryland.
The complaint alleges Whittman has suffered millions of dollars in damages due to the Three-Way Agreement between NAR and state and local associations. The complaint describes the agreement as “a nationwide cartel structure that extracts fees at every level,” where brokers are compelled to join and pay said fees to ensure MLS access.
The complaint echoes several similar lawsuits (some dismissed) that association membership being required for MLS access violates antitrust laws. MLSs, not NAR, are still ostensibly allowed to decide at the local level if non-Realtors® can access their service.
Whittman, who is seeking $2 billion in punitive damages and $50 million in treble damages, states that while he is not a member of the defendant associations, he pays fees to them to attain access to essential services. The complaint continues that, despite paying these fees, access is limited to “narrow jurisdictional boundaries.”
An NAR spokesperson defended the organization’s policies, including the three-way agreement, saying that it provides members “a unified voice on policy issues.”
Seminole Tribe sues builder giant Lennar for allegedly faulty construction
The Seminole Tribe of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the Miami-based construction company Lennar. The complaint alleges that 552 Lennar-constructed homes on tribal land are in such poor condition as to be uninhabitable, meaning tribal members living in them have been “constructively evicted,” as reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The complaint was originally filed in March 2025; after mediation between the plaintiff and defendant fell apart, the Tribe filed an amended complaint.
“Lennar spent the last six months, almost on a daily basis, tricking and deceiving the Tribe into falsely believing that Lennar had every intention of amicably resolving all of these very serious issues,” the amended complaint read.
Lennar has pushed to continue resolving the case in arbitration, citing an arbitration clause in the warranty agreement signed by the company and the home residents.
A Lennar spokeswoman gave the following emailed statement, as cited by the Sun Sentinel:
“We take these concerns seriously and seek to work collaboratively with the Seminole Tribe to address them. In that spirit, we have shared a comprehensive plan addressing the necessary repairs and enhancements, and expressed our readiness to move forward. Our goal is to ensure lasting satisfaction and confidence in the homes we build, and we are fully prepared to begin this work immediately.”
