Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate.
Updates in eXp sexual assault case
eXp World Holdings argued in a March 13 motion that it is essentially the wrong defendant. The company says it is a separate corporate entity from eXp Realty, had no role in hiring, supervising or firing the two agents Anya Roberts accuses of assaulting her, and had no knowledge of any alleged misconduct until well after the incidents Roberts describes took place in 2020.
In short, World Holdings argues that just because it owns eXp Realty doesn’t mean it can be held responsible for what its independent contractors allegedly did.
The motion also takes direct aim at Roberts’ federal sex trafficking claim. World Holdings argues the evidence gathered in discovery doesn’t support the idea that a sex trafficking “venture” ever existed. It points to Roberts’ own deposition testimony—in which she acknowledged entering into a consensual romantic relationship with agent David Golden—as undermining the theory that she was lured and coerced for commercial purposes.
One of the eXp recruiters accused of assault, Michael Bjorkman, separately filed a motion for summary judgment in the federal sexual misconduct lawsuit brought by Roberts, seeking to have all claims against him dismissed before trial.
Bjorkman, a former eXp Realty associate, argues in filings submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on March 12 that Roberts’ own deposition testimony undermines her claims. According to the motion, Roberts admitted she has no evidence of physical contact with Bjorkman and that her belief a sexual assault occured was based solely on her interpretation of a remark he made after entering a hotel bathroom while she was showering during a March 2020 trip to Daytona Beach, Florida.
At least four other women have sued Bjorkman and another former eXp influencer, David Golden, of drugging and raping them. Most of those claims, which also name eXp and founder Glenn Sanford as facilitators to the alleged misconduct (including sex trafficking) are pending and scheduled to go to trial this summer.
Bjorkman’s motion also notes that Roberts’ own retained expert, Dr. Chitra Raghavan, testified that Roberts never directly told her Bjorkman had sexually assaulted her during approximately 13 hours of interviews. Roberts’ claims against Bjorkman include federal sex trafficking, sexual battery, civil battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Buyer commission lawsuit against Howard Hanna will move forward
A federal judge ruled on March 9 that the buyer commission lawsuit against Howard Hanna will continue.
The court tossed a handful of state-level consumer protection claims, but the central allegation—that Howard Hanna conspired with competing brokerages to inflate buyer commissions—is moving forward.
The judge found the plaintiffs made a plausible case at this stage, and noted that Howard Hanna’s participation in the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and local associations could be used as evidence of an unlawful agreement.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), which stepped in last December, has also argued that commissions remain inflated and that certain industry rules should be treated as inherently anticompetitive.
This is the second partial dismissal in the case, with the conspiracy claims surviving both rounds.
Real Broker, Frano Team want Zillow lawsuit claims settled out of court
Real Broker and Frano Team are asking a federal judge to remove them from a major class-action lawsuit against Zillow, arguing that one of the plaintiffs already agreed in writing to handle any disputes privately—not in court.
The filing, submitted March 13 in federal court in Seattle, involves plaintiff John Cady, a Florida homebuyer who purchased a home in Melbourne, Florida, in September 2025 using a Real Broker agent from Frano Team. Before the transaction, Cady signed a buyer representation agreement that included a clause requiring both sides to resolve disputes through arbitration—a private, out-of-court process—rather than litigation.
The larger lawsuit, brought on by 11 plaintiffs, accuses Zillow and several real estate companies of running a scheme that deceived homebuyers into working with agents who secretly shared their commissions with Zillow in exchange for buyer referrals. Real Broker and Frano Team are only named in the suit because of their involvement in Cady’s transaction.
Because Cady signed that agreement, Real Broker and Frano Team say his claims against them belong in a private arbitration proceeding in Florida, rather than in Seattle, along with the rest of the case. They argue every claim he’s making, including the federal racketeering allegations, ties directly back to that agreement.
It’s worth noting that a similar strategy did not work for defendants in the landmark Burnett commission case, where courts refused to push claims into private arbitration and allowed the lawsuit to move forward. A judge is set to hear the matter on April 13.
