Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate.
Hanna Holdings opts in to copycat buyer settlement
Hanna Holdings has opted into a copycat buyer-broker commission settlement, even as litigation tied to the agreement continues to face challenges in federal court.
In a March 23 filing, the brokerage said it intends to oppose a motion seeking to block its participation in a separate, court-approved settlement process tied to the Tuccori case, another copycat buyer lawsuit in Illinois.
Anywhere Real Estate previously sparked controversy by opting into the Tuccori settlement, and two other federal judges suggested they would allow that process to move forward.
Plaintiffs who are behind both the Howard Hanna action and the original buyer lawsuit (known as Batton) had asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction preventing Hanna Holdings from moving forward with that settlement. The company argued the request is improper and noted that similar attempts to halt related settlements have already been rejected by other courts, referring to Anywhere.
The company said it will file a formal opposition by April 3, signaling its intent to proceed despite ongoing objections.
Compass drops lawsuit against portal giant Zillow
After Zillow quietly modified its “Listing Access Standards” March 17, Compass dropped its lawsuit against the portal the next day—just nine months after filing. Also last week, Zillow itself announced its own premarketing program in partnership with a handful of big brokerages.
“Our goal has always been to give homeowners more choice to decide when, where and how to market their homes,” said Robert Reffkin, chairman and CEO of Compass International Holdings, in a statement. “We are pleased to see that other brokerages are now recognizing the strong consumer demand for more options in how they sell their homes. Homeowners deserve more choices, not fewer choices.”
In a statement provided to RISMedia, a Zillow spokesperson said the company “welcomes Compass’ decision to voluntarily withdraw its meritless attack on Zillow’s pro-consumer standards,” noting that a judge previously said that she did not see evidence that Compass would win the lawsuit.
The Zillow spokesperson also said the “underlying issue” of private listing networks remains, despite the end of the lawsuit and its own changes to its rules, and promised the company would continue to restrict listings that violate the new standards.
“Real estate works better when information is open and accessible,” the Zillow spokesperson said in a statement to RISMedia last Friday. “To the extent Compass continues to limit transparency and harm consumers, agents and the marketplace by hiding listings in a private network, it remains at odds with Zillow’s standards, which remain fully in effect. The distinction is simple: Zillow believes in broad, public exposure and access to listings; the Compass private exclusive listing network is hiding them.”
Compass wins first round against NWMLS in legal showdown
In the 23-page order filed March 19, U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead denied NWMLS’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, ruling that Compass at this early stage, had plausibly alleged that the listing service’s rules stifle competition, harm homesellers and potentially violate both federal and Washington state antitrust law.
“The question before the Court on this motion is whether the (lawsuit) states a plausible claim for relief, not whether Compass will ultimately prevail,” Whitehead wrote.
In a statement shared with RISMedia, NWMLS said it was “disappointed” in the decision, but pointed to other points in the ruling where Whitehead made it clear he was not ruling on the facts of the case, noting that at this stage of a lawsuit judges are required to take allegations as true and “draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.”
“Northwest MLS is confident in its pro-competitive and pro-consumer rules and systems and the transparent and comprehensive marketplace that its members have advanced over the past 40 years,” the statement read.
Batton plaintiffs’ bid to appoint interim counsel draws opposition as Anywhere seeks full stay
On March 20, the Tuccori plaintiffs filed an opposition court document arguing that the Batton plaintiffs’ motion to appoint interim co-lead class counsel is both legally unwarranted and a thinly veiled attempt to interfere with the Tuccori homebuyer antitrust settlement pending before Judge Lindsay Jenkins.
Separately, Anywhere Real Estate moved to pause all remaining proceedings against it, pointing out that its settlements in Burnett and Tuccori together resolve every claim in the case—though plaintiffs refused to stipulate a stay.
The case against Anywhere remains largely frozen pending the Eighth Circuit’s decision in the Burnett appeals, with the Tuccori opt-in period set to close on April 14.
Defendants oppose interim counsel bid in Florida homebuyer case
In Lutz v. HomeServices of America, defendants filed an opposition on March 19, arguing that plaintiffs’ counsel can not adequately represent the non-released buyer class because they are simultaneously pursuing claims that were already prevented in the Burnett and Gibson settlements.
Defendants argue the motion is an attempt to block defendants from settling through the Tuccori opt-in procedure and ask the court to deny or stay it pending the Eighth Circuit’s decision.
Arrest made nearly 15 years after Iowa agent killed at open house
Iowa real estate agent Ashley Okland, 27, was shot and killed on April 8, 2011, at a model townhouse in West Des Moines, where she was hosting an open house. The case went cold for nearly 15 years before West Des Moines police arrested Kristin Ramsey, 53, on March 17, following an indictment by a grand jury on a charge of murder in the first degree.
At the time of the killing, Ramsey worked for Rottlund Homes, the company that built the townhouse where Okland was murdered.
Ramsey is currently held on a $2 million cash-only bond, though her attorneys are seeking to reduce it to $100,000, arguing she is not a flight risk. No trial date has been set.
