U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough has granted final approval to settlements in the main Burnett copycat case totaling $39.7 million with five real estate brokerages, with the total settlement fund sitting at over $1 billion as the industry continues to grapple with the fallout from antitrust claims.
The approvals, announced Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri, cover settlements with five brokerages—Hanna Holdings, William Raveis Real Estate, EXIT Realty, Windermere Real Estate Services Company and William L. Lyon and Associates, a firm that now operates under the Windermere brand.
Preliminary approval was granted on Oct. 3, 2025 and notice to the settlement class started on or around Oct. 14, 2025. 2,698,327 claims were submitted. The court received 22 opt-outs and three objections, which were presented during a hearing on Wednesday.
Judge Bough overruled all objections, finding they did not undermine the fairness or adequacy of the agreements and noting that only three objections were filed out of nearly 2.7 million claims submitted.
“Having fully considered the arguments at the hearing and in the written submissions, and based on all materials in the record, the motion for final approval is granted,” reads the court filing.
The settlement notice reached more than 95% of identified settlement class members through an extensive campaign that included over 164 million direct notices sent via mail or email, plus more than 355 million digital impressions. The settlement website received over 4 million unique visitors and 22 million page views.
The court also entered a partial final judgement dismissing the case with prejudice as to the five settling brokerages, meaning settlement class members are barred from bringing related claims against those firms, their franchisees and affiliated agents tied to commission practices covered by the case.
Under the approved agreements, the settlement classes include sellers nationwide who listed homes on a multiple listing service during specified time periods and paid commissions in connection with those sales. For Hanna Holdings and William Raveis, the covered periods vary by state, while settlements with EXIT Realty, Windermere and Lyon apply to sales from Oct. 31, 2019 through the date class notice was issued.
Bough found the settlements to be “fair, reasonable and adequate,” citing the scale of recovery achieved to date, the complexity and risk of continued litigation and the minimal opposition from class members.
Distribution of the funds will be handled by court-appointed settlement administrator JND Legal Administration, which will review submitted claims and issue payments to approved class members.
